


Maytime Ballads

by Hyperionova



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Bedding Ceremony, Betrayal, Blood Feud, But he'll get his redemption arc, Kai isn't particularly a nice person, M/M, Medieval, Mpreg, Playboy Kai, Revenge, Royalty, Sehun doesn't believe in love, Smut, You might even wanna punch him, eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-03
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-02-23 04:35:50
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 18
Words: 90,606
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23005843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Hyperionova/pseuds/Hyperionova
Summary: Kai, the Crown Prince of Samor, has a personal vendetta against the royal family of Nairth. To avenge his father's death, he swears to make the King of Nairth pay. And he finds the perfect vehicle for his revenge in Sehun, a Prince of Nairth.Though betrothed to another, Sehun unfortunately finds himself falling for Kai's honeyed words and false promises without knowing anything about the betrayal and heartbreak that lie ahead.
Relationships: Kim Jongin | Kai/Oh Sehun
Comments: 262
Kudos: 749





	1. Chapter 1

Spring was in full bloom. Honeybees bounced about from shrub to shrub, nuzzling into many-hued flowers for pollen. The sunlight, that cascaded generously from the heavens above, was warm yet gentle, waltzing with the springtide winds that were crisp and cool, especially in the mornings. As the Maytime festivities rapidly approached, shrubs of vividly coloured blossoms, branches bearing flourishing green, whistling winds and warmth and happiness pervaded the country of Samor.

The streets were thronging with Samorians, men, woman, children alike, who were getting ready for the Maytime Festival. At night, the skies would be filled with brilliant lanterns, like floating stars, as the people rejoiced with good food and abounding wine. Merry tunes and lively music would roll through the streets and reach every corner of the city all night.

A much different scene was playing at the Royal Palace.

“Watch where you step,” the swordmaster said with a cocky smirk after tripping his student for the sixth time. “Remember, Your Highness. Grace and poise are two very important elements in swordplay.”

Kai steadied himself and straightened up, huffing at the swordmaster with a scowl etched on his sweaty brows. In spite of having seen over forty winters more than him, the swordmaster was still incredibly impressive when it came to balance. Kai, on the other hand, teetered and tottered too much for his own good.

“Impatience and overconfidence make a dreadful combination that will only get you killed on the battlefield,” said the swordmaster, curling the edges of his moustache with one hand while the other brandished his sword at Kai. “Never underestimate your opponent.”

He repeated that every time they practised. _“Rule number one, Your Highness. Never underestimate your opponent”_ , he had said the first day Kai had trained with him.

Wiping the sweat beads that were collected on his forehead, Kai lunged forward once more with a better stance. The swordmaster effortlessly blocked the blow and countered it. Kai wondered if he would ever become a swordfighter as masterful as the swordmaster. Of course, the man was one of the best swordfighters in all of Samor. His father paid him in bags of gold just to train Kai in swordplay thrice every week.

Insofar, Kai had not bested the man, despite training with him for nearly three years. But he had defeated every other boy he had duelled with, though. At the age of thirteen, he had already bested six kitchen boys and two young foreign princes during their visit in swordplay. He still remembered the way his father had brimmed with pride and joy following his only son’s victory. He had rewarded Kai with all sorts of luxury and indulgence, including his own page boy.

“Focus, Your Highness,” said the swordmaster as Kai stopped to catch his breath. He shot a curt glance over to his seventeen-year-old page boy, who hurried over with a cup of water at once.

Draining the cup in a single gulp, he tossed it back to the page boy and returned to his training with the swordmaster. They were interrupted midway, however, by the doors of the training arena that swung open.

Kai turned around to look at the second-in-command to the King’s Guard striding into the arena. The distress in his usually stoic face was palpable. Kai wondered if something had gone wrong.

“Your Highness,” he said, bowing his head at Kai. “I need you to come with me forthwith. Her Majesty, your mother, requests your presence.”

His mother knew that he would be in the middle of his practice at this hour. Why would she want to see him now? A bitter feeling turned Kai’s stomach into knots.

“Why?” he asked Yaren, the second-in-command to the Captain of the King’s Guard. The Captain was not around, so technically, Yaren was the acting Captain in Samor at the moment.

“Her Majesty wishes to have a word with you,” said the guard. “A missive from Nairth came this morning.”

From Nairth? Why would it concern Kai? His father had sailed to Nairth two months ago for a conclave with the Nairthan King. Perhaps the missive had been from his father. Was it addressed to Kai? He had not seen his father in weeks, it would be nice to hear from him.

He bowed before the swordmaster, as it was customary in Samor for a student to pay his respects to his teacher, no matter the house either of them belonged to.

He tossed his sword over to the page boy to have it put away before he followed Yaren out of the training arena.

“Is it a letter for me?” Kai rasped, running his hands through his sweat-slicked hair to neaten it before presenting himself before his mother. He did not want to get an earful for walking around the palace looking like a street rat. She could be insufferable sometimes with all her nagging. While his father loved and even encouraged Kai’s boisterousness, his mother strictly forbade it. She often told him to act like a gentleman. Kai was the furthest thing from a gentleman. Sometimes, he even went days without a bath. He picked on kitchen boys and teased the charladies. Especially the young and perky ones. He loved pulling their braids and stepping on their kirtles. And when they’d trip, he’d smirk at them.

 _“A prince should not pull a girl’s hair!”_ his mother had chided him one day when she caught him taunting and making a sport of a young servant girl in the corridor.

It was not a hobby of his, though. He spent most of his time in a day working the sword and training in combat, that was whenever he was not dragged to join his father’s court affairs, or attend an audience and formal banquets, or sit through his politics and history lessons.

His mother told him that a future king should not only be well-versed in warcraft, but also in diplomacy and all sorts of boring stuff that Kai was not interested in.

He was not particularly interested in politics and diplomacy. And do not even get him started on history.

Many thought him to be a spoiled, overindulged brat, whose whims were catered to at every hour of the day. It was not true, of course. Kai bullied some of the kids working at the palace from time to time for entertainment, but he mostly kept to himself. He often did not get his way. He was still forced to show up to his boring lessons and dress himself in puffy shirts and attend banquets, wasn’t he?

And whenever his father was away, things were even worse. His mother was in charge, and Kai could never get his way with anything.

Last week, she had caught him kissing a servant girl in the courtyard. She spent a whole afternoon berating him. It had been torture. She went on and on about how she understood that Kai’s body was changing, and that he would want to experiment with his newfound desires, but she firmly disallowed him from fornicating with the servant girls. She then told that she would fire all the young girls who worked there if she ever caught him getting chummy with one of them again. Little did she know that Kai had kissed the stable boy just last week. Twice. He was a year older than Kai, and he was a good kisser, too. Kai was already thinking of kissing him (and the servant girl) again sometime later that day. But he decided to be more careful this time.

 _“You will soon be betrothed to the Princess of Agaar,”_ his mother had said. _“We cannot afford a scandal.”_

Kai only rolled his eyes. What the princess did not know could not hurt her, right? Not that he would care much if she got hurt. Besides, who could tell that she was not off kissing other people, too? He had never even met her before, so he harboured no sentiments towards her.

 _“I am not going to get the servant girl pregnant, Mother,”_ he told her, sighing. _“So, stop worrying.”_

He knew that his mother would not stop worrying, nevertheless.

As he followed Yaren to his mother’s quarters, he looked up to study the guard’s strained expression. He still had not answered Kai’s question.

“Did… something happen?” Kai asked. “In Nairth?”

He had heard plenty about the country of Nairth. It was infamous for its male bearers. Not much was known about how they came to be or their history. But a small fraction of the men in Nairth had been able to bear children, just like women, for as long as mankind could remember. Kai first found it strange and unsettling, but then one of his uncles got married to a baron from Nairth, who was a bearer himself. He was so beautiful and soft-spoken that Kai figured that the country could not be all that freaky if its people were this pretty. And he had always been kind to Kai. He brought wonderful gifts for Kai every time he visited. Last year, he came with a swollen belly and a glow like no other. Kai surprisingly had not found it weird or scary. In fact, he was excited to get a cousin.

One day, he hoped to visit Nairth, too. Perhaps he could ask his father to take him with the next time he sailed to the country across the sea.

When they arrived at the queen’s quarters, Yaren opened the doors for Kai and beckoned him to enter. Drawing in a nervous breath, Kai stepped into his mother’s study.

He found her seated on a chaise lounge, head hung, hands gripping the edges of a letter with a broken seal. Kai noticed the smudged ink on the parchment and wondered if his mother had been shedding tears on it.

“Mother?” he called, even though he knew that she was already aware of his presence. She did not raise her head immediately as she sniffled and wiped her cheeks. “Did you… send for me?”

Letting out a shaky breath, his mother brought her head up and met her son’s gaze with a set of glassy, bloodshot eyes. Her ashen complexion worried Kai immediately. He walked over to her and dropped to one of his knees, looking up at her with an anxious frown.

“What’s happened, Mother?” he asked, tempted to retrieve the letter from her hands and read its content himself.

His heart was hammered harder against his chest as his mother continued to stay silent, fresh tears welling up in her eyes.

When she eventually spoke, Kai felt his own hands tremble around hers. “It is… about your father, Kai,” she said in a low, quavering voice.

“Wh-What about him?”

His mother closed her eyes, choking on a sob.

“Mother,” rasped Kai. “What has happened to Father?”

“He has… died,” said his mother before breaking into tears.

Kai rose back to his full height and gaped at his mother in disbelief as his blood ran cold and pulse drummed loudly in his ears. His arms felt numb, and his knees were close to buckling.

“What… do you… mean?” he let out, eyes stinging.

“Kai…” She reached out and took hold of Kai’s hand.

“Your Majesty,” Yaren said as he entered the room. “You must make the announcement to the rest of the King’s court and assume the regency immediately. We do not know how far the news has spread. The people need to know. And the throne cannot stay empty.”

“Just give us a few more minutes,” she told the guard, her fingers trembling around Kai’s.

Kai’s ears were still ringing.

Sighing, Yaren bowed his head and left them alone.

“Kai,” his mother said at length. “We have to be strong now. Especially you.”

He withdrew his hand from her grip and turned on his heel before he broke into a sprint. He did not stop even when Yaren tried to stop him as he stormed out of the room and ran as fast as his feet could take him.

* * *

The whole country mourned the tragic passing of their king. The Maytime festivities were put on hold indefinitely as grief and sorrow flooded the streets of Samor. The House Radaal lamented for the loss of their patriarch, and Kai grieved for his father.

A week had passed, and nothing was getting better. His mother had now assumed the duties of a Queen Regent, and she would rule over the country until Kai would come of age, which he would not for seven more years.

There was a knock on the door. Kai ignored it. He had not been able to do much than lay around and stare at the canopy of his bed for the past week.

He had not cried. Not a single tear. He mourned in silence, though his head was constantly buzzing with cacophonous thoughts. Loud and imposing. He could not stop thinking about all the good times he had had with his father.

“Your Highness,” Lorian, the page boy, called in a diffident voice. “The queen wishes to see you in her chambers.”

Kai closed his eyes and lay still without giving the boy a response.

“The Captain… has returned… with your father’s body.”

Kai’s eyes flung open then, and he sat upright with a jolt, looking to the page boy with a slack jaw. “What?”

Lorian bowed his head. “It is what I had overheard. The queen asked me to fetch you when Her Majesty caught me.”

Kai quickly scrambled out of the bed and ran over to his mother’s chambers right away.

As he burst in there, he found his mother, her advisor, Yaren and Keilan–the Captain of the King’s Guard–gathered in his mother’s study.

“There is no solid evidence to point fingers over here,” said Uri, the royal advisor. He had accompanied Kai’s father on his trip to Nairth and must have just returned to Samor along with Keilan. “We are all aggrieved, but we cannot risk a war with Nairth by laying the blame on its king.”

“But he was the one who had done it,” said Keilan gruffly, his hands balled into tight fists at his sides. “They welcomed us into their home with false hospitalities and played us for a fool. The two kings have had bad blood between them for ages. Egeryn had finally found the perfect opportunity to get his revenge.”

“I am with Keilan on this,” said Yaren. “Who else would have the motive to poison the king?”

 _Poison?_ Kai must have gasped out loud because all heads turned toward him.

“Kai,” his mother called. “Come in.”

As Kai slowly stepped into the study, he glanced at Keilan. Part of him wanted to tear the man apart for failing to do his job. He was the one who was supposed to protect the king at all costs.

“Father… was poisoned in Nairth?” he asked, stopping before his mother’s desk. She rose from her seat and walked over to the windows. “Mother.”

His eyes brimmed with angry tears then. His breathing quickened, and his heart was galloping in his chest with a rage like no other.

“But why?” he asked. It made no sense to him. The King of Nairth had invited his father to his country for a private conclave. He had not known anything about the ‘ _bad blood’_ between them.

“We do not know for certain,” said the advisor anxiously. “We should be careful of what we say. Risking a war during a regency without a king on the throne is _not_ wise.”

Keilan exhaled an exasperated breath. “As much as I hate to admit it, I agree. It does not seem like King Egeryn wants to wage a war with our country. It was more of a personal vengeance. But we cannot be too careful. Measures should be taken, My Queen. The future of Samor rests upon Prince Kai. There is no telling if Egeryn’s thirst for revenge has been quenched.”

The queen turned and faced the captain with a dreadful expression. “Ready the necessary arrangements,” she then said as an order. “And leave us. I would like to speak to my son privately.”

As the others left the study, Kai walked over to his mother and said, “What is going on?”

His mother was quiet for a moment, drawing in deep breaths. Her eyes were ringed with grey, and they looked restless.

“What were you talking about?” asked Kai. “What is… this about Father being poisoned by the King of Nairth?”

“Kai, that is not something you need to worry about.”

“Are you kidding me?!” Kai yapped at her uncontrollably. “I am not a child, Mother! You are going to tell me what happened to Father, or I will find out on my own.”

His mother looked distressed as she glanced out the window. “All right,” she said. “It appears… that Egeryn, the King of Nairth, had invited your father to his country to…” She trailed off, letting out a shaky breath.

Kai clenched his hands that were trembling with fury. “And you are not going to do anything?!”

“There is no proof, Kai,” she said and turned her back to him. “that he was the one who had done it.”

“But… what if he was?” said Kai, voice quavering. “Why would he want to… kill Father?”

“Years ago, I was betrothed to him,” she said in a stern tone. “But I married your father instead. He held it against your father ever since.”

“Then why did you trust his intentions to extend the olive branch?!” Kai snapped at her. “Are you really going to let him walk away after he’s killed Father?!”

“There is nothing that we can do now, Kai. You haven’t come of age. Until you do, we are without a king.”

“That is nonsense!” Kai continued to huff and puff, unable to contain his anger. “I will kill him! I will kill him _and_ everyone he’s ever cared about!”

“Kai!” his mother rasped, catching his arm just as he began to stomp away. “Control yourself, lad. Impatience is never a good colour on a king.”

Kai aggressively yanked his arm out of her grip. “You can sit here and do nothing. I am avenging my father. I will not rest until I put my sword through that bastard’s heart!”

His mother’s expression hardened. “Keilan was right,” she exhaled. Kai blinked at her. “You leave Samor tomorrow and set sail for the country of Agaar,” she said strictly, like it was a command.

“Wh-What?”

“You will be received by the minister and taken to the Agaarian College.”

“The college?” Kai echoed in disbelief as his mother walked back to her desk to rifle through a pile of scrolls. “Why?”

“You leave right after the funeral,” was all that his mother said.

Kai could only gawk at her for a while before he slammed his hands on her desk to get her attention. “I am not going anywhere!”

“It isn’t your decision to make,” she said. “You will continue your studies and your training at the college until you turn twenty. The royal family of Agaar will keep an eye on you while you are there.”

It sounded as though the decision had already made, and Kai really had no say in it. “Father… has just… died,” he breathed out, his throat closing around a lump. “And you are sending me away?”

“It is for your own good, Kai.” She raised her gaze eventually and pinned Kai with a pained look. “I cannot lose you, too.”

Kai shook his head, heaving laboured breaths as he marched out of there, ready to punch through a wall.

* * *

_Seven years later…_

“How long are you planning to take in there?” his sister groaned impatiently on the other side of the door. “I’m sure you are going to look radiant with or without all that primping.”

“If you are in a hurry, go by yourself,” Sehun grumbled as the chambermaid washed the suds of the lye soap from his back. Stepping out of the tub, he stood still while another female servant towelled him dry and moisturised his skin with a thin lavender-scented oil.

“It is _your_ betrothed that is coming over today,” said Areum. “Should you not be a little more excited to meet him?”

Sehun sighed. He was not half as excited as his half-sister to meet his intended for the first time, in spite of having been betrothed to him since they were children. Needless to say, Sehun had not had much of a say in his engagement to the Crown Prince of Morridh. He did not even know what the man looked like. All that he had knew about the prince was what he had heard from other people. Descriptions and stories. Not even fun ones. So far, his impression of the man he was to marry was not all that excitable.

Pulling on a silk robe, he stepped out of the bathing chamber and scowled at his sister. “Will you hold your horses for one bloody minute?” he told her. “Why does it matter whether or not I meet him? I will have to marry him regardless.”

His half-sister made a face. “That isn’t true,” she said. “If you refused to marry him, Father would not force you. He would _never_ do anything to make you unhappy. You are his favourite child, after all.”

“I would not disgrace our father like that,” he said, walking over to the bed where a selection of clothes had been laid out for him to pick. They were all so grand, so fine. “He gave his word to the King and Queen of Morridh, and I will honour it.”

Areum scoffed out a laugh. Sehun pinned her with another glower. “It is so like you to act like the perfect child. Never a disappointment. Always upholding the House Egeryn’s name.”

Sehun rolled his eyes and picked up a dark green tunic with golden embroideries. “I have no reason to taint it.”

“Of course.” She chuckled. “But don’t you find it a little sad that you are marrying someone just to honour our father’s promise and not for love?”

Sehun swallowed hard, keeping his eyes on the tunic, pretending to be surveying the embroideries. “Not everyone finds love. And not everyone needs it.”

“Oh, dear. What a cynic you are,” she sighed and grabbed the black overcoat from the bed. In spite of their constant rows and disagreements, Areum was Sehun’s best friend, and the closest to him among his eight siblings. She was born to the king’s third wife, and Sehun to the second. Neither of them held a claim to the throne in succession of their father as the king had sired two sons from his queen. The best that the other children could do to honour their father was marry into other royal families to strengthen their allies.

“I am not a cynic,” said Sehun. “I am just practical.”

“ _I_ think it would be magical to fall in love with someone and marry him.” She hummed a tune as she handed the overcoat over to Sehun.

Rolling his eyes again, Sehun pulled the tunic and overcoat on over a pair of trousers and stood idly while the servants worked with the laces on his overcoat.

It was not that he did not believe in love. But he would not miss it, he thought. He had never been in love, so he was not even sure what he’d miss. All that he knew was that he could get by without it just fine, and he would do anything his father asked of him.

Even though he was not born to the queen, it was true that the king favoured him the most out of all of his children.

A bearer in Nairth meant a bringer of good luck. The king was honoured and overjoyed when his second wife gave birth to a bearer. He had celebrated Sehun’s birth with a week of lavish feasts and merrymaking. As the only bearer in the family, Sehun was pampered by all. He was the wonder child. He was obedient, soft-spoken, intelligent, diplomatic, polite and everything a parent could hope for in a child. Even the queen and the king’s two other wives, apart from Sehun’s mother, doted on him. He was a faultless prince with no red stain on his name.

And Sehun would like to keep it that way. He loved his family too much to disappoint them. So, he never did. He acted exactly how they wanted him to act. He did everything they told him to do. He did exactly what was expected of him.

“I heard that he is quite handsome,” said his sister. “And smart. He spent five years studying at the prestigious College of Agaar. And he plays four kinds of instruments. And now, he is the Commander of the Morridh Army.”

“It sounds like you are the one who is in love with him,” Sehun snorted as he stood before the mirror to don his necklace with the lotus medallion, the Egeryn sigil.

“Don’t say stupid things like that,” spat Areum.

Sehun turned around to face his sister. “We all know what reputation precedes the boys who go the Agaarian College,” he scoffed. “They spend most of their time at brothels and whorehouses. They are better at unlacing the girdles of wenches than flipping the pages of a book.”

“Dear Lord, somebody should wash your mouth with some soap,” she said. “Besides, not everyone can be like that.”

Sehun doubted it. He had heard enough stories about the college. It was the main reason why his father disallowed him from going there when he was younger. He would have been surrounded by overly sexed up randy highborn boys who could easily get excited by the wind.

Though Sehun was not like the other boys his age, the non-bearer ones, he still liked boys’ stuff. He even fancied some girls. Though they would probably not fancy him back. But he would never do something as sordid and immoral as the boys of the Agaarian College did nightly.

“Well,” his sister said, adjusting the lapels of Sehun’s overcoat. “I hope you will at least come to like him.”

Sehun shrugged. “We’ll see about that.”

“Are you ready?”

Smiling a thin smile, Sehun nodded.

There was a knock on the door before a guard entered. “Your Highnesses,” he said, bowing his head to both Areum and Sehun. “They are here.”

* * *

The carriage rocked and jerked, trundling toward the gates of the city. The arid air made his throat dry. Uncorking the waterskin, he swallowed the remaining drops of water before glancing out the carriage window again.

Nairth was a beautiful country. Sterilely warm, but there were architectures like nowhere else. Not even Agaar could compare. The streets were bustling with people and horse-drawn wagons. There was so much to see.

“It isn’t what I thought it would be,” said Kai, arching an eyebrow at Jaehyun, who was repeatedly tugging at his half-unlaced shirt by the chest for some wind. Yuri at Kai’s side was busy sketching in his sketchpad.

“I wouldn’t mind one bit if it were a tad bit cooler,” grumbled Jaehyun.

“You certainly do not look presentable enough to meet your brother’s future in-laws,” Kai said.

“Who the fuck cares,” Jaehyun spat annoyedly, chest heaving at the heat. “Are we there yet?”

“Just a little farther,” said Yuri, pushing the gold-framed glasses up his nose.

Kai knew that his mother would not have approved of his little trip to Nairth if he had written to her about it. Which was why he had not. It was not as though he kept her updated on all the current events of his life, anyway.

When Jaehyun, one of his closest friends at the college, extended an invitation to go with him to Nairth to attend his half-brother’s engagement party. His half-brother Daewon was two years older, and a former Agaarian College student. He was also next in line to the Morridh throne.

“Will your family be there?” asked Yuri.

Jaehyun exhaled heavily. “They were supposed arrive today, too. I’m not sure if they already have. God, I need a bath.”

“We both do,” Kai grumbled, though he was more excited to have finally reached Nairth.

“Fair warning,” said Yuri, frowning. “Do not fornicate with the boys here without protection. Some of them can get pregnant. Creepy.”

“Why do _you_ care?” said Jaehyun. I thought you didn’t swing that way.”

“I don’t. I prefer ladies,” said the spectacled boy. “But I know you two would fuck anything that moves.”

Kai smirked. “Haven’t fucked you, though.”

Yuri blinked and grimaced. “What about… him?” he asked, jerking his chin toward Jaehyun.

“Fourth year,” Kai muttered, looking out the window again.

“Gross,” Yuri let out under his breath while Jaehyun kicked Kai on the shin.

“That was a mistake,” said Jaehyun. “I was just… desperate and drunk. And we didn’t _fuck_. It was a… favour for mutual relief between brothers. We only used our hands.”

“I don’t need to hear the details,” said Yuri, cheeks turning red.

As the carriage rattled toward the palace, Kai curled his hands into fists, his chest tautening with a feeling he often felt as he tried to fall asleep at night, recalling his father’s funeral.

He wondered if he would be welcomed here if King Egeryn knew who he really was. Besides, the news would reach his mother in no time.

“Remember,” he told his two best friends. “Don’t mention to anyone that I’m the Crown Prince of Samor. I’m just here for a good time and a break. I do not need the attention.”

He had asked them this favour before they had left for Nairth. He doubted that apart from Jaehyun and Yuri, anyone would recognize him here. He had spent the last seven years in Agaar after all.

“Tell me more about this prince that your brother is marrying,” said Yuri, sounding more curious than he should. “Is he really a bearer?”

Jaehyun nodded. “Apparently,” he said. “And they are giving away a fat load of marriage portion with him.”

“How fat?”

“Five carriages of gold and the allegiance of House Egeryn. And in return, we pledge our loyalty and our army to Nairth.”

“Holy…” Yuri let out.

“My mother wrote in her last letter that the prince is the king’s priceless possession. He is the only bearer child the royal family has had in centuries.”

“How priceless?” Kai asked, eyes narrowing and brows furrowing.

Jaehyun shrugged. “Must be pretty priceless if the king decided to cut off the arms of a man who tried to touch the prince a few years back.”

Yuri gasped. “What?!”

Kai scoffed, smirking. “King Egeryn sounds more and more intriguing. I can’t wait to meet his precious little prince.”


	2. Chapter 2

Sehun stood on the corridor of the second floor that overlooked the inner bailey as four carriages jangled through the gates one after another. His heart was pounding a little now. He was about to meet the family he was to share the rest of his life with. And the man he was to marry in a fortnight. He was suddenly overwrought with nerves.

Areum took hold of his trembling hand and arched an eyebrow at him. “Nervous, are you?” she asked.

Sehun withdrew his hand from her light grip and shook his head. “No,” he lied, glancing back to the carriages. He swallowed hard. What should he expect of the Prince of Morridh? Would he even like Sehun? Was Sehun everything he had hoped for in a consort? Did it even matter? Sehun would have to get through with the wedding regardless.

As a child, he had wondered a lot about the matters of love and marriages. The very idea of the institution of marriage baffled him. And do not even get him started on the concept of love. The love between family members he understood. The love he had for his pet dog he recognized. But how could one fall in love with a total stranger and promise themselves to that person? He had been very young when he thought about all that. Now, at the age of twenty, he had still yet to understand it.

His father had married four women. Did he love them all? Equally? Did love have a scale? Was it even comparable? Sehun wondered if he would ever get his answers.

“Come on,” said his sister. “Let’s head down. They would want to meet you.”

Sehun did not move, however, as he continued to gawk at the carriages that rattled past the guards. They soon came to a halt and the drivers hurried to get the doors. The palace guards and the king’s advisor approached the carriages.

“Sehun!” Areum hissed, tugging at Sehun’s arm.

They then hurried downstairs to join the rest of the family in the throne chamber. Well, most of the family. Out of Sehun’s eight siblings, only six were there, including Areum. The other two had already been married off to foreign princes. His oldest brothers Jaein and Yejun, both born to the Queen, stood by their father, chests puffed out, chins held high. They shot Sehun a cheeky smile when they saw him enter the throne room.

Sehun blushed as he joined their sides.

“You’re glowing,” teased Jaein, the Crown Prince of Nairth. Sehun kept his head low, gnawing at his lower lip.

“Aw,” laughed Yejun, throwing an arm around Sehun’s neck to pull him close. “He’s blushing!”

Sehun briefly hid his face in Yejun’s chest before he pulled back and groaned. “I am not blushing.”

“Yes, you are,” said Jaein, winking at his little brother. “It’s adorable.”

“Leave your brother alone,” their father chided gently, seated on the throne with his queen in the throne next to his. Sehun’s mother and his other stepmothers were also there, looking presentable and hospitable. Sehun’s youngest half-siblings were both six years old, though they had different mothers. One of them was Areum’s sister, Yara. The other, Tami, was born to the king’s fourth wife.

Altogether, the queen had four children. Her two daughters were married away last year. The king’s second wife only had one child, Sehun. The third wife had three children, Areum and Yara. And Tami was the fourth wife’s, though she was currently pregnant with her second child.

“Sehun, my dear son, come here for a moment,” said his father.

Sehun walked over to the king and bowed his head respectfully. “Father,” he said as the man rose from his throne with a proud smile etched on his lips. He surveyed Sehun’s face and heaved a heavy sigh.

His smile turned sad for a beat. “I am already having second thoughts about this marriage,” he sighed. “I am not certain that I can send you away.”

Sehun mirrored his father’s sorrowed smile.

“Oh, Father, please,” groaned Yejun. “He can always visit. Morridh is not across the sea. All it takes is a couple weeks of ride.”

“Does that mean you will not miss me, Brother?” Sehun asked.

Yejun’s expression hardened then. “I am going to miss you more than you’d miss me.”

“That’s true,” Sehun joked.

“All right,” said Sehun’s father. “Look sharp. All of you.”

“They are on their way in,” said Areum, grabbing hold of Sehun’s arm as she sidled next to him, beaming from ear to ear.

Tami hopped up onto the king’s lap, and as her mother tried to pull her away, she refused. “It’s all right,” said the king, smiling lovingly at his youngest.

As the herald announced the arrival of the royal family of Morridh, Sehun clenched his clammy hands behind his back. His father and the queen rose from their seats to greet the King and Queen of Morridh, who strutted into the chamber, clad in more finery than Sehun’s entire family was donning.

“King Egeryn!” exclaimed the other king with a wide grin as he embraced Sehun’s father in his arms. “It has been a while.”

“It indeed has,” said Sehun’s father.

Sehun’s gaze shot to the tall man who entered the throne room then.

“That’s him,” Areum whispered at his side.

Sehun blinked at the man. He was quite easy on the eyes. Nothing extraordinary, though. He was tall and lanky without much muscle on his limbs. Did he really command army, Sehun wondered. He looked a little exhausted from the ride. His dark hair was slightly mussed. His skin was pale, and not even his overly gaudy attire could make him stand out.

Sehun felt his heart sink. He was not sure what he was expecting, but he felt disappointed. Not because the prince was not dreamy or anything, but simply because Sehun felt absolutely none of the sparks his sister had been telling him about.

It was a marriage of convenience. He knew that going in, right from the get-go. Yet, he somehow felt let down. Perhaps he had been hoping for all that sappy, lovey-dovey stuff Areum constantly went on about.

“He is so handsome,” said Areum. Sehun cocked his eyebrows. He was not in the least bit impressed by what he was seeing. But his sister was. Perhaps she should marry him after all.

It took Prince Daewon took a moment to notice Sehun, and when he did, he looked away rather quickly with a dull expression. Well, Sehun certainly shared his lack of enthusiasm.

A few more people entered the room. Sehun assumed they were friends and relatives of his future in-laws.

“Some of our relatives will join us later,” said the Morridhian King. “My second son should be on his way here.”

“You must be tired,” said the queen, Sehun’s stepmother. “Perhaps you would like some rest before lunch.”

“That would be wonderful,” said the other queen, Sehun’s soon-to-be mother-in-law. She barely smiled.

As the guests were escorted out of the throne room, Sehun felt his shoulders slump in disappointment. He had hoped to formally meet his betrothed and perhaps talk to him in private for a moment to get to know each other a little better.

His brothers teased him a bit more before they too left the throne room.

“Are you all right, sweetheart?” Sehun’s mother inquired as she approached him. “You seem a little… put out.”

She could always tell when something was wrong with Sehun. He sighed. “Nothing, Mother,” he said.

She smiled a knowing smile. “You will get your chance to speak with him soon.”

Sehun bit his lip. “It’s not that.”

“Come along now. We must get ready for lunch.”

* * *

Kai had spent the last seven years in Agaar, attending classes to hone his political skills, training in warcraft, practicing swordfight, archery, and hand-to-hand combat, everything a future king should be trained in. But he spent most of his time there chasing a good time. He knew his mother would disapprove. He simply had not cared. Or perhaps it was the reason why he had done it in the first place.

This summer, all of that would come to an end as he would be crowned as the next King of Nairth following his twentieth birthday. Not soon after, his marriage to the Princess of Agaar would take place, too. He had met her a few times during his stay in Agaar whenever he was invited to dine with the royal family there once every year. Each year, she only got more beautiful. She blushed every time Kai looked in her way. If it had been up to him, he would have bedded her long ago. But princesses were harder to access than the common strumpets at brothels.

Not that Kai complained. Those strumpets knew what they were doing. And they did it oh-so well, with no strings attached. Over the years, Kai had also left a long trail of broken hearts behind him. It was not that he deliberately wanted to play with them in the first place. He just lost interest in all of them so quickly. Some of the people he went out with cursed him and swore to pray for his downfall, others simply fell to their knees and begged in tears when he’d tell them it was over. They’d tell him about how much they loved him, and how they would do anything for him. Nothing made him change his mind. Now, he was rather uninterested and indifferent towards other people’s misery.

Love was as dull as a puddle of muddy water to apathetic, listless, half-hearted jackass like him. He was not all unempathetic, though. He felt some things. Still. Anger, resentment, a thirst for vengeance.

Every night as he fell asleep, he’d promise himself to avenge his dead father, who was poisoned and murdered by the King of Nairth after lulling him into a false sense of security.

A war between two countries was unnecessary. And it would take far too long. This was more personal. If King Egeryn had murdered Kai’s father out of spite, then it was personal for Kai, too. He would make the man pay. He would lull Egeryn into a false sense of security and strike him when he least expected it.

He could not believe, that after years of dreaming and longing for retribution, he was finally here, on the soil of his father’s murderer, entering the gates of his home.

“We’re here!” Yuri announced excitedly.

Jaehyun sat up straighter and poked his head out the carriage window. “Finally.”

Kai exhaled heavily with a clenched jaw.

When the carriage jerked to a stop, Jaehyun sprung for the door handle and spilled out of the carriage so fast that he almost lost his footing and tumbled to the ground.

Kai climbed out of the carriage next and glanced to the guards who were walking towards them. Amid them was an old man dressed in a maroon robe.

“Are you with the royal family of Morridh?” he asked very politely.

Kai held out a hand to Yuri, who was struggling to get out of the carriage, hugging his sketchpad to his chest.

“I am Jaehyun. These are my friends from the college,” said Jaehyun.

“Ah, Prince Jaehyun,” said the old man, grinning. “We have been expecting your arrival. I am the king’s royal advisor. Please, follow me. The servants will take your belongings up to your rooms.”

“Oh,” said Yuri. “Can you ask them to be careful with my paint sets? I had them shipped from Roria.”

“I need you to worry less about your paint sets,” Kai grumbled at him. Yuri pouted and rolled his eyes.

“Wow,” Yuri let out as they followed the king’s advisor into the palace. “This place is… amazing.”

“It was built by His Majesty King Egeryn’s great-great-great grandfather,” said the advisor. “Prince Jaehyun, your family arrived just a while ago. You can meet them at lunch, which I hope you and your friends would attend.”

“Of course. I am starving,” Jaehyun groaned. “We have been eating nothing but stale bread and dried fish for the past few days on the road.”

“I could gobble up a whole buck,” said Kai.

The advisor led them up two flights of stairs, and as they ambled down the hallway, the old man briefly glanced back to pin the boys with a grimace.

“I would advise you to clean up for the lunch as you would be presenting yourselves before the King and Queen of Nairth,” the man said. They were covered in road dust, sweat and muck, and they barely had their shirts laced. “You smell like all sorts of foul things.”

“Thank you,” said Jaehyun, scowling.

When they finally reached their respective guest rooms, Kai entered his and found a chambermaid still making the bed. The advisor caught him arching a suggestive eyebrow at her backside as she bent over the edge of the bed to neaten the sheets.

Clearing his throat, the old man pointed to a door. “There is the bathing chamber,” he said. “And if you need anything, the servants will help you.”

Kai glanced back at the servant who staggered into the room, lugging Kai’s trunk behind him.

With that, the advisor hurried out of the room, shutting the door behind him.

“I do not any help for the time being,” he told the chambermaid and the other servant boy. “You can leave.”

They nodded their heads and took their leave. Kai then wandered over to the window to draw the curtains close. He was not the biggest fan of daylight. Everything was tastier in the dark.

After unlacing the rest of his shirt, he grabbed the trunk only to realize that it was Yuri’s, filled with more sketchpads, pencils and paint sets than clothes.

Groaning, he strode out of his room with the trunk and started for Yuri’s room. As he made his way across the hallway, he heard voices resonating from the nearby stairwell.

“You are overthinking,” said a female voice. “He was probably just tired from the ride. I’m sure he is excited to meet you. Besides, weren’t you the one who said that it does not matter? Why are you suddenly so bothered?”

“I don’t know,” said another voice, a boy this time.

The voices were getting louder and closer, and Kai had come to a halt. He decided that he would not mind meeting the owners of those voices.

“Yara!” he heard the boy screech all of a sudden. “Get back here with that! You could get hurt!”

Before Kai knew it, a little girl sprinted up the stairs and ran into one of his legs. “Sorry, mister,” she rasped and bolted past him with a butter knife in her hand, giggling excitedly.

“Why is she so into knives?!” groaned the girl. “It’s a sordid fascination, don’t you think? Do you think she could become a serial killer when she’s older?”

“Areum, don’t say such things,” replied the boy as they reached the top of the stairs, running after the little girl with the butter knife. “Perhaps she would become a swordfighter.”

As the boy hurried past Kai, his knee accidentally knocked against the trunk, which promptly slipped from Kai’s grip and fell open on the ground, its content spilling out.

It was only then that the boy and the girl who was hurrying after him–both appearing to be around the same age–stopped to notice Kai in the hallway.

Kai cocked an eyebrow at them, especially the boy, whose eyes immediately wandered to Kai’s chest and abdomen that were exposed by his dirty unlaced shirt.

Kai could not tell if they were members of the royal family of Nairth or Morridh, but judging by their opulent clothing, glinting jewellery, confident demeanour and the arrogant lilt in their speech, they had to be royalty. One was as pretty as the other. Both had silky brown hair, deep dark eyes, high rosy cheekbones, creamy white skin, full plump lips, slender fingers, svelte bodies. Kai would take them both in a heartbeat if he was offered.

But right now, he was annoyed.

The boy turned around and started to walk away once he was able to tear his gaze off Kai.

Kai cleared his throat calmly and crossed his arms over his chest. The boy turned to face him again with a confused frown.

Shooting the open trunk a look, Kai said, “Pick it up.”

The boy blinked as he gawked at Kai speechlessly for a moment. “I… beg your pardon?” he said at length.

“You bump into someone, you apologize,” said Kai in a cool tone. The boy’s cheeks reddened in embarrassment. He glanced at the girl, who looked like she had just seen a ghost.

“Who are you?” the boy asked, looking back to Kai.

“Doesn’t matter,” Kai spat. “Pick it up and apologize.”

“Excuse us,” said the girl with a scoff. “Do you know who we are?”

“Don’t know, don’t want to know, don’t care,” said Kai, nodding toward the trunk on the floor again.

“Areum,” the boy whispered, lips quivering. “It’s okay.”

His hands were trembling as he dropped to knees on the ground to pick up the things and put them back in the trunk. Once he was done, he closed it and rose back to his full height to meet Kai’s sharp gaze. He did not hold it for very long, however, as he quickly lowered his eyes.

“I am… sorry,” he said.

Kai gave a curt, approving nod and picked up the trunk again before turning on his heel. “That’s a good boy.”

* * *

Sehun did not leave his room or his bed for the rest of the morning until a servant came up to summon him down to lunch at midday.

“Taeyong,” Sehun called, sitting up on his bed before the servant boy could walk away.

“Yes, Your Highness.”

Chewing on his lower lip, Sehun hesitated for a moment. His face was still burning from the humiliation he had experienced earlier that day. It was not exactly a humiliation. It was just that he had never been treated that way by anybody before. Not even strangers.

He was always pampered, always spoken to softly. Even his boisterous older brothers always treated him with kindness. They teased, but they were never hostile.

“Do you know… who are… staying in the guest quarters on the third floor?” inquired Sehun.

Taeyong blinked and shook his head. “I don’t, My Prince. But I can find out if you want me to.”

Sehun sighed. “No, that won’t be necessary.” He would find out sooner or later on his own, anyway.

He should have said something to that harsh boy earlier while he was lording over Sehun so presumptuously. But that was the thing. The boy’s calm yet brazen conduct had intimidated Sehun a little. While he remained cool through the whole thing, his eyes were sharp and cold. There was something horrifyingly unfeeling and apathetic about them. Like he cared about no consequences. Reckless…

Sehun felt threatened by his strange attitude. It could be that or how attractive the boy had been. Perhaps a bit of both. His sun-kissed skin was an even shade of bronzy tan. He had some sharp, exotic features that Sehun had not seen in any parts of Nairth. And he certainly did not look Morridhian either. He also had a thick mane of dark hair that was mussed and matted with dry sweat and dust from the roads.

Areum called the boy ‘an uncultured jerk’–behind his back, of course–before Sehun retired to his room. Sehun had not been able to utter a single word since his apology. Nobody had ever forced an apology out of him. His heart had never pounded so fast. Not even when he first mounted a horse.

It was a strange feeling. Not exactly a bad feeling, but at the same time, it was the sort of feeling that warned him to run the other way. Sort of like mounting a horse for the first time. He could fall. He could get stomped on. There was potential danger buried under all that excitement. A fear looming over anticipation.

Sehun’s heart had not stopped racing. It skipped a beat every time he thought of the boy. Part of him wanted to go back up to see just how potent this danger was.

Would the boy still speak with such bravado if he knew who Sehun really was? Something about his cold eyes told Sehun that it really would not make a difference. The boy had to be either a reckless idiot, or a suicidal lunatic. Either way, he stayed in Sehun’s mind all morning.

“Your hair needs neatening, Your Highness,” Taeyong said as Sehun climbed out of the bed.

Right. He was about to dine with his future in-laws for the first time. And his betrothed. He had forgotten all about them after the debacle with the stranger.

He let Taeyong run the comb through his hair a few times and apply some perfumed oil on the sides of his neck before he wended his way down to the feast hall.

“Ah, there he is,” his father announced, grinning wide, from where he was sitting at the head of the table. At the other end, the King of Morridh was seated comfortably with his queen and Prince Daewon at his sides.

Sehun squeezed in between Yejun and Areum at the table after bowing his head to the King and Queen of Morridh. Once seated, he stole a glimpse of Daewon, who still looked very tired and uninterested. But he did take a longer look at Sehun this time and managed a very small smile.

Tami and Yara were not present. They must be at their lessons with the governess. Everyone else was already at the table. Sehun wondered what they were waiting for because he was ready to lunge at the knob of butter laid out before him on the table. He could eat nothing but butter all day, every day and never get tired of it.

“Are we waiting for someone?” he whispered to Areum.

“Their second son,” his sister whispered back. “He’s arrived apparently. I think the rude donkey we met earlier is with–”

She was cut off, however, by the three boys who entered the hall, laughing and snorting. They fell quiet at once as they glanced to the table.

Sehun felt a heartbeat skip when his eyes instantly darted to the boy from earlier. His hands turned clammy and cold all of a sudden as he froze in his seat.

“Jaehyun!” the Morridhian King exclaimed, jolting up from his seat to welcome one of the boys into his arms. “I haven’t seen you since Winter Solstice. And who might these gentlemen be?”

“My friends, Kai and Yuri,” said Jaehyun. “They are just here for the engagement party.”

Sehun was not sure which one of them was Kai, and which one was Yuri. But they both bowed to the king before all three of them walked over to the King of Nairth to pay their respects.

“It is a pleasure to have you all here,” said Sehun’s father. “I hope you have a pleasant stay. Have your seats and we can all start eating.”

Sehun could hear his blood drumming in his ears as the boy from before took his seat on the other side of the table. He kept his eyes low and his jaw clenched. Had he even noticed Sehun at the table?

“Prince Jaehyun,” called Sehun’s brother, Jaein. “You attend the College of Agaar, do you not?”

Jaehyun nodded his head, picking up the winecup. “We all do,” he said.

“How are studies?” asked Yejun.

The three boys exchanged a glance and shared a similar smirk. “Fantastic,” said Jaehyun.

“I didn’t quite catch your names,” said Jaein, looking to the other two. Sehun paid closer attention now.

“I’m Yuri,” said the one with the spectacles. He was shorter than the other two.

“Kai,” said the boy curtly before taking a sip of the wine in his cup. He still had not looked in Sehun’s way once.

“Are you the one my brother’s marrying?” Jaehyun asked, looking at Jaein.

Jaein coughed and quickly shook his head. “That will be my brother, Sehun,” he said, pointing to Sehun.

And that was when Kai’s head finally turned towards Sehun along with his two friends’. Sehun quickly dropped his gaze to the butter on his plate and pretended to be busy cutting it in tiny pieces before sliding one of them onto his tongue. As the salty silkiness melted in his mouth, he slowly brought his head up to glance at Kai.

The boy was staring at him unabashedly, eyebrows furrowed in a faint scowl. Sehun lowered his gaze again, swallowing hard.

“I’m sorry,” said Jaehyun. He was talking to Sehun. Oh, God. Sehun tried to look at him and smile. “I have only heard about you before. It’s nice to meet you, Sehun.”

Sehun licked his lips before speaking. “Pleasure, Prince… Jaehyun.”

Kai eventually looked away, grabbing a heel of bread and dipping into the bowl of potato soup. He could not even sit in his seat with grace. Neither could Jaehyun. Yuri was mannered enough to sit straight with his legs closed and wash his hands in the fingerbowl before touching his food. There was absolutely nothing graceful about Kai. He had at least cleaned up for lunch.

He wore a black shirt, still unlaced at the top. Jaehyun and Yuri had the decency to dress a bit more appropriately for a formal lunch. They both wore overcoats on top of their embroidered tunics. Sehun wondered if Kai were lowborn. But how could he be since only highborn sons could attend the College of Agaar? Perhaps he was not as well off as the others.

He certainly did not have the table manners of a nobility.

“Why are you staring like that?”

Sehun snapped out of his trance and looked at his sister, who was hissing at him. “What?” he let out quietly.

Areum frowned. “You are staring, Brother,” she said in a low voice. “At him.”

“At whom?” Sehun played coy, reaching out for the quail eggs.

“Curious. Very curious,” was all that Areum said before she returned her attention to her own plate.

Sehun ignored her and stared at Kai again. Kai was now observing Sehun’s father keenly. He slowly moved his gaze to everyone else at the table, surveying them one by one. When his eyes finally reached Sehun, Sehun felt his chest tighten while his stomach did all sorts of stupid dances.

He tried to look away, but then a corner of Kai’s lips quirked up into a playful smirk.

Sehun blinked at him.

“Sehun,” the queen called, and Sehun quickly tore his gaze away from the boy to look at his stepmother.

“Yes, Stepmother,” he said.

“Why don’t you… take Prince Daewon to the painting gallery after lunch?” she suggested, smiling pleasantly.

Sehun shot his betrothed a glance. Daewon shrugged and said, “I’d like that.”

Yuri gasped. “Can I come along?!”

All heads turned to him.

“I-I mean… I don’t mean to impose but…” Yuri stuttered.

“You can come along,” said Daewon. “I do not mind.”

Frankly, Sehun did not either. He smiled at Yuri and said, “Do you like paintings?”

“I do,” replied Yuri. So, was it his trunk that Sehun had knocked over earlier? It was filled with art supplies. Kai certainly did not look like someone who would enjoy the intricacies of painting. He certainly did not have the patience.

Why was Sehun obsessing over him?! He barely knew anything about the boy. He tried to ignore Kai’s presence at the table and eat.

“Yuri,” the Morridhian King called. “Where do you come from?”

“Oh,” said Yuri. “Agaar, Your Majesty. My father is a duke.”

“I see. And what about you, Kai?”

The boy raised his head and said, “Also Agaar, Your Excellency,” he said. “Family’s nothing too fancy, though. Just merchants, though I do have a distant uncle who’s a viscount.”

His friends pinned him with a strange look, but they said nothing.

“You should stay for the wedding as well,” said Sehun’s father. “if there is no rush to head back to school.”

“The final examinations are around the corner,” said Kai with that same threatful yet cool demeanour that made Sehun’s blood run cold. “Otherwise… I would have _loved_ to spend more time in your beautiful country, Your Majesty. I’m sure there is quite a bit of sweet things to experience around here.” He looked at Sehun then and winked.

Sehun flinched, eyes widening. He quickly glanced around to see if anyone had noticed that. Or was he just seeing things?

“Of course,” said the king. “If you want, the guards could accompany you to the city and show you around.”

Kai smiled at the king. “You are very hospitable, Your Grace.”

After lunch, as everyone nudged Sehun to join Daewon and escort him to the gallery, Yuri and Jaehyun tagged along. Sehun was, oddly enough, disappointed when Kai asked to be excused so that he could rest in his room for the rest of the evening.

As he walked out of the feast hall, however, he glanced back at Sehun and pinned him with another smirk that made the hairs on Sehun’s nape stand up.


	3. Chapter 3

Maytime was in the offing. In just a few weeks, spring would make way for summer. And it would be precisely seven years since his father was taken away from him. It had been _seven_ years and he was yet to get his revenge.

But today, he caught a glimpse of a scrumptious, inviting possibility for retribution. Dying would be the easy way out. Egeryn should have to suffer. It would not be enough to just watch him die. Kai needed more. He needed to hurt Egeryn where it would hurt him the most.

As he wandered through the hallways, he recalled the way Egeryn’s youngest prince was eyeing him through the whole lunch. Let’s just say that Kai knew the look all too well. And it was not just curiosity that was sheening in the boy’s eyes as they painstakingly bore into Kai the entire time. There was plain eagerness in them. The prince had looked intrigued, invested, and all agog. It was not until Kai caught him staring so outwardly had the ingenious, cruel idea even struck him.

Curious indeed. The boy was betrothed and was about to be married off to the Crown Prince of Morridh in a fortnight, and he had not spared his own fiancé one-tenth of the looks he had been shooting Kai at the table.

It had been difficult for Kai to just sit there at the same table as the man who had murdered his father. It had taken Kai all of his strength to stay quiet and not demand justice from that man. Part of him wanted to speak just for the affirmation, to have the man look him in the eye and confess to his crime.

After he was sent away to Agaar, Kai had spent the first couple of years obsessing over the King of Samor, gathering every detail he could about him, though he had glossed over Egeryn’s family. He had not seen the need to involve the family into his quest for revenge. It was personal. But today, he understood that family meant everything to Egeryn.

He stopped in the hallway when he came across a portrait on the wall. It was of Egeryn and his family. Most of them were children. Only Sehun stood out in the group of kids because he was sitting on the king’s lap, arms wrapped around his father’s neck. Kai used to be pampered, too. But he had never been allowed to sit on his father’s lap for portraits.

He heard someone clear her throat behind him. Turning around with an arched brow, he faced one of Egeryn’s daughters. The one who was with Sehun earlier.

Though she was smiling, her expression bore a certain hostility for Kai. It was interesting.

“I believe I have not introduced myself,” she said. “I’m Areum.”

Kai bowed his head. “Honoured to meet you, Princess.”

She rolled her eyes. “Are you lost?”

“I’m just looking around.”

“Hmm.”

As they proceeded along the hallway together, Kai held his hands at his back and asked, “I don’t suppose you have a library in the palace, do you?”

Areum looked up at him with a curious look. “A library? I hope I don’t offend you by saying this, but you did not strike me as someone who’s devoted to reading.”

“Well, then I suppose you should not judge a book by its cover,” he said. “for that appearances can be… very deceiving.”

The princess fell silent for a moment as she surveyed Kai’s face. Then looking away with a frown, she said, “Yes, we do have a library in the east wing, second floor.”

“Thank you.”

She was not wrong, though. Kai rarely picked up a book to read, but he figured he would find more about House Egeryn and its history in the library.

“Would I mind if I asked you how old you are?” Areum asked at length.

“We’re here,” said Kai, nodding his head toward his room. He took the princess’ hand and gave its back a light kiss before straightening back up with a smirk. Areum blinked at him with something akin to confusion as Kai sauntered into his room and closed the door behind him.

Clenching his jaw, he sat down on the edge of his bed and huffed heavily, recounting the number of times Egeryn had smiled during lunch, looking at his loving family dearly. The number of times he had smiled at his son Sehun proudly.

* * *

“Oh, my God,” Yuri gasped as they entered the gallery. His cheeks were full of colour, and there was a spring in his step. Sehun had never met anyone who was as excited as him over a bunch of paintings. “This is by Gerangiyan from the fifth dynasty,” he said, skipping over to a painting.

“Yes,” said Sehun. “It cost Father a lot to have it bought at an auction.”

“And this!” Yuri leaped over to another. “Furovi… thirteenth dynasty?”

“Twelfth,” Sehun corrected. “He actually painted it for his lover, who killed herself.”

“Really? Do you know a lot about all these paintings?”

“As much as there is to know about them out there,” said Sehun, smiling. “During my free time, I collect and archive information about them. You can find them in our library.”

“Whoa.” Yuri turned to other paintings. Some he recognized, others he asked for Sehun’s insight. “Where is this from?” he asked.

Sehun felt a fuzzy feeling in his chest as he always did when he looked at that particular painting. “It is my favourite,” he said. “Orhtho from the Loi dynasty in Yanuan.”

“Why is it your favourite?” asked Yuri, looking genuinely interested.

Sehun exhaled heavily. “It looks so… intimate,” he said. “It isn’t obscene, but there is something so… raw and passionate about it.”

“Like you could make love to it?” asked Jaehyun, and it was the first time he spoke since they entered the gallery. Daewon was still looking around, not taking much interest in any of them or what Sehun had to say about them.

Sehun blushed at Jaehyun’s remark. “Yes… Something like that.”

Jaehyun cocked his head and took a good look at the painting that was mostly just abstract in a splash of red, but if you looked close enough, there was a magnolia in mid-bloom, splotches of red on its petals, as though it were bleeding.

“It symbolizes both fertility and the horrors of nature,” said Sehun.

“I don’t know much about Yanuan art,” admitted Yuri. “But I have to look into it now.”

Jaehyun walked over to his brother then. Sehun watched them talk about something in hushed voices for a while before he returned his attention to Yuri.

“These are some of the local works,” said Sehun, beckoning at the corner with Nairthan paintings.

“This paint type,” rasped Yuri. “It’s not oil, is it?”

Sehun shook his head. “Nairthan painters work with gouache paint.”

“Of course. Gouache!”

“The paint absorbs light instead of reflecting it.”

“I could never find gouache paints in Agaar,” he sighed.

“You could get some supplies at the local paint stores here,” said Sehun. “I know a very good paint trader.”

“Really?!”

“Yes. It’s right in the city. We could go together.”

“I’d love that!”

Jaehyun grabbed hold of Yuri’s arm and yanked him away with a taut smile etched on his lips. “Are you done geeking out on your paintings?” he asked. Yuri made a face and pulled his arm free from the other boy’s grip. “I think it’s time we retired to our rooms and got some rest.”

“But I still haven’t–”

Jaehyun pinned Yuri with a scowl then. As though he had understood a tacit message, Yuri glanced at Sehun and that at Daewon before he grinned sheepishly.

“Yeah. We should probably get some rest, too,” said Yuri.

Sehun nodded his head. “I understand.”

As Yuri and Jaehyun made their way out of the gallery, Sehun turned to Prince Daewon, who was staring at a painting dully.

“You seem to know a lot about art,” said Daewon. Sehun was nervous, but it was not the good kind of jitters. “Do you paint?”

“I do,” Sehun replied. “When I’m in the mood for it. What about you?”

“I do not have the kind of time in my hands to do pointless things like paint,” scoffed Daewon, turning to face Sehun at last.

Sehun winced. “It is not pointless.”

Daewon shrugged. “What else do you do? Bake? Knit?” He laughed. “I am joking. Unless… you do?”

Sehun felt his heartbeat quicken. He did not like the way Daewon was laughing at him, mocking him. “As a prince, I was required to take part in several activities. Painting is one of them.” He tried to keep his tone as civil as he could.

“As a prince, I was required to learn how to use a sword and run a country,” snorted Daewon. “But I suppose those without any right to the throne have it made for them.”

Sehun decided that he had been humiliated enough by outsiders for one day. He exhaled heavily and said, “I just remembered that there is something that needs my attention right now. I will see you at dinner, Prince Daewon.”

As he stormed out of the gallery, he wondered which part of today was worse. Meeting Kai and becoming overly curious about the boy or meeting his soon-to-be husband and being completely disappointed.

* * *

As they lay on the piles of cushions in the sunroom, gazing at the star-spangled evening sky just a while before dinner, Areum handed Sehun a piece of lemon cake that was drizzled with honey.

“It has been a weird day, hasn’t it?” said Sehun.

“Why?” asked his sister.

Sehun ate the cake and licked the blob of honey from his thumb. “I don’t know,” he muttered.

Areum sat up straighter and fixed him with an eager look. “You still haven’t talked about him.”

Sehun sighed. “I don’t know what to say. He’s… strange. Peculiar, isn’t he?”

“Um… I suppose? Quiet, yeah.”

“And mysterious.”

“Rude. Definitely rude.”

“Definitely.”

“But still very handsome, right?” said Areum.

Sehun curled his bottom lip between his teeth and tried to not let blood fill his cheeks too much. “Yes,” he let out, hugging his knees to his chest. “Quite.”

“Look at you blushing.”

“I’m not blushing,” Sehun argued. “Anyway, did you notice how evasive he was being? It was like he did not want to talk about himself.”

Areum blinked at him. “Wait, who are you talking about?”

“Kai.”

His sister’s eyes widened. “I was talking about Prince Daewon.”

“What?”

“What?!” She crawled over to where Sehun was sitting and grabbed his chin. “You listen to me, Sehun. That boy is bad news. There is something about that just doesn’t feel right. You stay away from him.”

Sehun pulled away and scowled. “I don’t plan on going near him. You are reading too much into things.”

“I noticed the way you were gawking at him at lunch,” she scoffed. “Like a lost bird looking at a fox for help.”

“I was not–”

“You are right about him being purposefully evasive, though,” she said, settling down on the cushions beside Sehun. “I am going to find out more about him.”

“Did you talk to him?”

“Yes. For a brief while. And he was being… very polite. He asked me if we had a library.”

Sehun sighed. “He smiled at me, too. At lunch. Maybe he isn’t all that bad? Maybe it had been my fault that he snapped at me on our first meeting.”

“Maybe. But I still feel like he’s bad news.”

They were silent for a moment. Then Sehun said, “I don’t think Daewon likes me very much.”

“Don’t be silly. Everyone likes you. You’re the salt of the earth.”

That was what Sehun used to believe, but he was proven wrong, not once but twice by two different men in the same day. At least Kai had not mocked him, but he was a lot harsher than Daewon had been. Sehun decided that he was not ready to forgive either of them for the way they had treated him today.

“I’m sure you are just overthinking this again,” said Areum. “Give it some time. You’ve only just met.”

“But what about what you said the other day. About… the sparks and stuff?”

“I thought you didn’t believe in them.”

Sehun gnawed at his lower lip for a moment. “I don’t… but I guess I was just… hoping for something better than this.”

“It will get better,” said Areum, though she did not sound so sure herself.

* * *

Sehun woke the next morning to Areum’s screeching voice telling him to get up. When he refused and tried to go back to sleep, she yanked the eiderdown from the bed and tugged at his shoulder, forcing him to turn around.

“Areum,” he groaned. “Why are you doing this?”

“You have to come and see this!”

Sehun buried his face in the pillow again. “I don’t want to.”

“Sehun!” she whined, plumping on his bed. “Fine. If you are not interested in Jaein and… Kai duelling in the training arena.”

Sehun’s eyes flung open at once, and he sat up. “What?”

Kai had not come down to dinner last night. Not that Sehun would admit it, but he was hoping to see the boy again soon. Just out of curiosity, of course.

As he scrambled out of the bed and hurried into the bathing chamber, his sister pinned him with a grimace.

“What?” asked Sehun.

“Nothing,” she muttered, shrugging. “I will send the servants up then.” As she skipped out of the room, Sehun proceeded into the bathing chamber for a bath.

* * *

Sehun was surprised to find Jaehyun and Yuri at the training arena, too. They were standing outside the ring, cheering and cussing. The latter came mostly from Jaehyun.

Sehun’s gaze shot to the inside of the ring, where his brother and Kai were battling, swords clanging against one another. Sehun felt his jaw fall slack a little as he watched Kai move with a grace he had not shown before. Jaein was a great swordsman, undoubtedly. But Kai did it like he was in love with it. There was passion in his moves. There wasn’t a thirst for glory. He was simply enjoying it like it was a stroll in the garden.

There was a constant smile on his lips as he slid around the duelling ring, countering every one of Jaein’s strikes with a lot less effort than Sehun would have expected.

Taeyong entered the arena with a tray of refreshments. “Your Highness,” he let out when he found Sehun there. “I did not expect you to be here.”

“What are they doing?” Sehun asked.

“Farming,” scoffed Areum when she showed up. “What does it look like?”

“I mean, what happened? Why are they duelling?”

“Oh,” said Taeyong. “For fun, I suppose. They are just training.”

Sehun never understood that about boys. The way they maimed each other ‘for fun’.

Jaehyun pulled away from the ring when he noticed Sehun. Walking over to him with a big smile, he said, “Good morning, Prince Sehun.”

“Good morning to you too, Prince Jaehyun,” Sehun replied, though he was having a hard time taking his eyes off the ring. “Your friend is quite impressive at swordplay.”

“Oh, yeah,” snorted Jaehyun. “Bit of a show-off, though.”

Sehun did not find that Kai was trying to show off. He was just having… fun. He was impressively masterful at it, but it did not seem like he was trying to show Jaein up.

“How did a merchant’s son learn to fight like that?” asked Sehun, arching an eyebrow.

Jaehyun dithered then, scratching the back of his head. “Maybe you should ask _him_ that.”

Sehun exchanged a glance with Areum. “Where is your brother?” she asked Jaehyun, who turned to Taeyong to grab a cup of dandelion tea from the tray he was holding.

Jaehyun did not answer Areum immediately as he lifted his gaze to stare at Taeyong for a moment, eyebrows furrowing into a faint frown. Then clearing his throat, he turned away from Taeyong and faced Areum.

“Still asleep, I reckon,” he said. “He is not a morning person.”

Sehun brushed past Jaehyun with a cup of tea in his hand and walked toward the ring.

As he leaned over the wooden railing with a loving smile, looking to his brother, Jaein called a timeout and wandered over to the edge of the ring where Sehun was standing. Panting for breath and bathed in sweat, Jaein lowered to a crouch and accepted the cup Sehun was holding out to him.

“Came to watch, little brother?” he asked, smiling, after taking a mouthful of the tea. Handing the cup back to Sehun, Jaein gently took hold of Sehun’s chin and stroked it lovingly with a thumb before pulling away.

Sehun nearly purred at the touch and grinned at his brother. “You got this, Brother,” he said encouragingly.

Jaein smiled once more before he turned to Kai, who was now staring at Sehun, leaning back against the railing.

Sehun fixed him with a smug look, wanting to appear as nonchalant as he could before he returned his attention to his brother.

“Hey, Your Highness,” said Yuri, approaching Sehun.

“Sehun is fine, Yuri,” Sehun told him friendlily.

“Ah. Okay, Sehun.”

As Jaein and Kai bounced back into the duel, their blades clashing, Sehun stepped away from the ring. Yuri followed.

“We shall breakfast,” Areum said, hooking her arm around Sehun’s. “Unless you want to spectate this some more.”

Sehun glanced back at the ring, ignoring the skip in his heartbeat. “We should ask them to join us, too.”

His sister stared at him with a knowing and disapproving look. She sighed. “Taeyong, tell them to come and join us in the courtyard for breakfast,” she told the servant boy. “And tell them to take a wipe all that sweat before coming to the table.”

Yuri and Jaehyun followed Sehun and his sister out of the training arena.

* * *

“You’d make a fine soldier, Kai,” the Crown Prince of Nairth commented as they made their way toward the courtyard of the palace. “That is some quite remarkable swordsmanship you got there.”

“Once you start doing something you love out of responsibility,” Kai replied. “it becomes a chore. You no longer enjoy it.”

“I suppose there is some truth in there,” he said with a sigh. “But it isn’t like I can help it.”

“Well, if you are crowned king, you would not have to serve in the army,” said Kai.

“I think my father would outlive all of us,” scoffed Jaein. Kai refrained a scowl.

“I noticed that you are a very… loving, touchy-feely family,” remarked Kai.

Jaein chuckled. “We are,” he said. “It is just how Nairthan culture is. I suppose it must seem strange to you if you’ve never been here.”

“No more than usual,” Kai said. “Does the House Egeryn extend the warmth reception to outsiders, too?”

Jaein’s brows raised at him. “Are you upset that we did not receive you with a kiss on the cheek, Kai?” He smirked, clapping a hand to Kai’s back.

Kai smiled. “I was just wondering.”

When they arrived at the courtyard, Kai joined the others at the table, sidling next to Yuri on the bench. Egeryn’s two youngest daughters had joined them for breakfast, too. One of them was seated on Princess Areum’s lap, and the other was settled comfortably on Sehun’s.

The milky-skinned, moony-eyed prince looked up at Kai immediately and did not avert his gaze for a while. Kai pretended to ignore him as he reached for the bread and the fig jam.

When he raised his gaze again, Sehun had looked away, popping a hunk of silky-smooth butter into his mouth. Kai had noticed the way the prince had been fixated on the butter at lunch yesterday, too. The girl sitting on his lap aggressively tried to wrench the butter knife out of Sehun’s hand.

“No, Yara,” Sehun grumbled, putting the knife away and out of his sister’s reach.

“Sehun was offering to take me to the city for some paints tomorrow,” said Yuri. “Does anyone want to tag along?”

Kai glanced at Jaehyun, who was gawping at the servant boy that was making sure everybody’s cups were full. He lightly kicked Jaehyun’s shin under the table to catch his attention.

Jaehyun looked at him then, scowling. “What?” he mouthed.

Kai nodded his head subtly toward the servant boy.

Jaehyun shrugged and lowered his attention to the food.

“I’d go,” said Kai. “I’d like to do some sightseeing. Not that my view right now isn’t pretty fantastic.”

Sehun’s gaze darted to him at once, and Kai smirked at the prince’s crimsoning cheeks.

“I’m talking about the courtyard, of course,” Kai added.

“Where are we going?” asked Jaehyun, having clearly spaced out for a while back there.

“The city,” said Yuri. “Tomorrow.”

“Ah. Sure. I’ll go.”

“What about your brother?”

“I’ll ask him later.”

At the mention of Jaehyun’s brother, Sehun lowered his head and fiddled dully with the flowers in his little sister’s hair. Interesting.

“Hide and go seek! Hide and go seek!” the girl sitting on Areum’s lap squawked. “You promised!”

Sehun sighed. “Eat your crusts first, Tami,” he said.

“Then can we play?”

Yara jumped excitedly on Sehun’s lap. “Yes! Play. Everyone!”

“I have important matters to attend,” said Jaein. “So, I will have to sit this one out. The rest of you, make sure my baby sisters have a cracking good playtime.” It almost sounded like an order.

With a wink, he rose from the table and grabbed a slice of bread with some clementine jam spread on a side before he walked away.

“Yes! Yes!” the little princesses exclaimed excitedly as they clambered down their siblings’ laps.

“Come on!” Tami whined, yanking Jaehyun’s arm.

The other one ran around the table to grab Kai’s arm. “Come on, mister!”

Kai sighed. “All right,” he said. “But I must warn you. My hide-and-seek skills have gotten kind of rusty.” Yara giggled. He rose from the bench along with the others before following the girls to the garden near the courtyard. There were plenty of shrubs, trees and gazebos to hide behind.

* * *

“So, who hides and who seeks?” asked Sehun when they reached the garden. Tami and Yara whispered something to each other before they faced the adults.

“I will seek first. All of you must hide,” said Tami. “I will count to a thirty.”

She hopped over to a nearby tree promptly. She turned toward the tree trunk and closed her eyes. As she started counting, the rest of them scurried toward the bushes.

Yara had no trouble crawling into one of the thick shrubs.

“This is my hiding spot,” Areum hissed when Sehun approached the gazebo behind which she was hiding. “Find another foxhole, Brother.”

Groaning, Sehun hurried over to a tree. He would be found easily if he hid there. So, he opted for the shrubs far away from Tami instead. Though he could not squeeze into one, he could hide behind them long enough.

His heart almost leaped out of his chest when Kai arrived at the group of shrubs the same time as he.

“This isn’t big enough for the both of us,” Sehun said.

“Right,” said Kai. “Find another spot then.”

“No way,” Sehun argued. “I found this first.”

“Shh.” Kai took hold of Sehun’s arm then and yanked him forward to hide behind the shrubs so that he would not be giving their position away. Tami was done counting.

“Ready or not,” she called out. “Here I come!”

Sehun looked down at Kai’s hand that was wrapped around his arm. His breathing quickened a little. He tried not to let his anxiety show.

Kai must have noted Sehun staring at his hand because he quickly retrieved it.

“What was your name again?” Kai asked in a very low voice. But Sehun heard it loud and clear. There was less than inch gap between them. When he realized how hard his heart was pounding, he was worried that the cold bastard would be able to hear it. So, he tried to calm his nerves. For someone who grew up in a family full of love and physical gestures of affection, he sure was choking and suffocating being in close proximity with a boy he did not know.

“I thought you did not care,” Sehun whispered back.

Kai smirked that sultry smirk of his that only made Sehun’s heart race even faster. “Are you mad at me?” he asked.

Sehun blinked at him. “Why would I be mad at you? I don’t even know you.”

“Shh,” Kai hushed him again.

Sehun scowled at him then. “You are taking this game very seriously.”

Kai licked his smiling lips and tilted his head forward. Sehun nearly staggered back, but he managed to stay put, though not entirely unfazed. Kai still smelled of soap and a bit like sweat from his duel with Jaein earlier. Not that it bothered Sehun. He was always perfumed. But his brothers often ran around smelling like all sorts of foul things.

“So, you’re not going to tell me your name?” muttered Kai.

Sehun looked away, frowning. “You haven’t told me yours.”

“Do you _want_ to know mine?”

Sehun met the boy’s unbothered gaze again. His hands flew up to Kai’s chest then and shoved him back. Kai staggered a few steps away from the shrub.

“Found you!” Tami screeched. “You’re it!”

Kai faked a sad face before he looked to Sehun with a mischievous simper. “I’ll get back at you for that,” he said. Though he was smiling when he said it, it still sent a chill down Sehun’s spine.

“Olly, Olly oxen free!” Tami announced as Kai walked over to the home base tree to start counting to thirty as everyone switched their hiding spots.

* * *

After six more rounds, they decided to call it quits. Even Tami was tired and was ready for a nap.

“Where did Yara go?” Areum asked when they gathered at one of the gazebos.

“Here she is,” said Taeyong as he ambled into the garden with Yara in his arms. “She was at the table, collecting all the butter knives.”

Sehun groaned. “Yara,” he said. “Why do you keep doing this? Take her to her governess, Taeyong.”

“That was fun,” Yuri commented as he walked away with the others.

Sehun cleared his throat, and Kai stopped in his tracks to glance back at him. “My name is Sehun,” he said, even though he knew that Kai must have known his name already.

Kai smiled. “Okay.”

Sehun scowled as the boy turned away. “Aren’t you going to tell me your name?”

Kai stopped once more and this time, he walked back to Sehun, whose heart instantly started galloping. Kai said nothing for a few moments as he stared into Sehun’s eyes.

“No,” he said at length. “But do you want to know?”

Sehun swallowed hard. What sort of a question was that? Kai was waiting for an answer. “Never mind,” said Sehun as he shoved past the boy. He came to a halt, however, and bit his lip. “Y-Yes.”

Kai walked away without answering and with a victorious grin playing on his lips.

“Well, I answered your question,” said Sehun, looking at Kai like a wide-eyed puppy. “Tell me your name.”

Kai briefly turned around, though he kept walking backwards. “I never said I was going to tell you.” He made the kissy face at Sehun and winked before turning his back to Sehun again. “Besides, you already know it.”

“That’s not the point,” Sehun growled, but only to himself. Huffing exasperatedly, he went after Areum.

* * *

“He is so boyish,” Sehun complained, pacing his room restlessly. “And insufferable. And crude. And… And…”

Areum rolled her eyes from where she was sitting on the chaise lounge. “So, you obviously have taken a liking to him,”

Sehun stopped and shot her a glower. “What? Are you out of your mind? I am saying the opposite over here.”

“Uh-huh.”

The doors opened then. Sehun turned around to look at his mother, who walked in. He quickly looked at his sister and pressed a forefinger to his lips, telling her to not say a word about Kai.

“Darling,” his mother called. Sehun stared at the servants that surged into the room, bearing heavy trunks and crates.

“What’s all this?” he asked.

“Oh, marriage portion from Morridhian King and Queen,” his mother said. “It’s all for you. Clothes, jewellery, exquisite bottles of wine, exotic candies.”

Sehun frowned. “This is a bit much, Mother.”

“You are a prince and a bearer at that,” she said. “The Morridhian royal family had to offer more than what the other princes did.”

Sehun’s frown only deepened. “So… it’s like I’m being sold to the highest bidder?”

“Sehun,” she sighed. “It isn’t like that.”

Sehun dropped to a seat on his bed and hung his head. He had convinced himself that he would be able to do this. But right now, it was all getting all too real, and he was… unsure.

He would not voice his hesitance out loud, of course. This was what his family wanted for him. He would not let any of them down. He would certainly not dishonour his father. He had wanted the Crown Prince of Morridh for his youngest prince. Sehun would honour him, no matter what.

Later that night, when Sehun did not see Kai at dinner once again, he went looking for the boy at the library. He was not sure that he would find Kai there, but Areum had told him that Kai had inquired about it. Perhaps that was where he was.

The bookkeeper was asleep at his desk when Sehun entered the library. He did not bother to wake the old man up as he wandered in, eyes searching for the sight of Kai.

When he did not find him there, he sighed and decided to grab a book to read for the rest of the night. As he perused the spines of the tomes on the bookshelf, he wondered what exactly was he doing here. Yes, he had come looking for Kai. But why?

What was this strange power that Kai had over him that he was already running behind the boy like a puppy in just two days?

“Mystics of Carnal Desire,” Kai’s voice echoed out of nowhere, and Sehun jumped with a start before turning around to look at Kai, who was leaning against the opposite bookshelf with his arms crossed over his chest. “Hmm… I did not peg you for the type that would have an interest erotic literature.”

Sehun glanced down at the book in his hand and turned completely red. “I… uh…”

Kai scoffed out a soft chuckle and pulled away from the shelf to close the distance between them. He must have taken a bath. He was wearing a different shirt now, though he still refused to have it laced all the way, and he smelled like wormwood soap, and his hair looked fluffier than ever. Sehun wanted to run his fingers through it.

What?!

He retreated as Kai advanced toward him. Soon, his back was pressed against the bookshelf and he swallowed, looking up at Kai nervously.

“I never got to congratulate you on your engagement,” Kai told him, smiling very faintly.

“Th-Thanks,” Sehun murmured.

“Too bad you would not be going any further than the engagement.”

Sehun froze then. His ears rang a little as his body numbed. He stared at Kai unblinkingly for a length, his blood pulsing in his temples. “Wh-What?” he let out. “What… do you… mean?”

Kai shrugged nonchalantly. He leaned in, and Sehun’s eyes bulged out. “Good night,” he whispered, his breath grazing Sehun’s cheek. “Your Highness.” He bowed his head as he backed away.

Sehun felt his knees turn to water as he stood there, goosefleshed and horrified. At the same time, blood was swirling in his lower regions, making him incredibly hot and aroused.


	4. Chapter 4

When he roused in the morning after a rather restless and sleepless night, he sat up on his bed and rubbed his eyes on the hilt of his palms. Then glancing out the open doors of his balcony, he squinted lightly at the morning sun. Hugging his legs, he rested his face on his knees and sombrely watched the birds flit by his balcony.

He had not done anything essentially wrong or immoral. Yet he still somehow felt dirty and conscious stricken. He must have fallen asleep crying because his eyes felt swollen and tired.

All his life, he was told exactly what he had to do, and he was happy doing it, too. He had felt good about following orders and sticking to the rules, even the ones set by his own family. Perhaps that was why he was ridden with guilt because for the first time, he felt like he was straying from the path he was supposed to be on.

He drew a deep breath. He had not done anything yet. Last night, he had let himself get carried away a little in the privacy of his own room and bed to the thoughts of another boy. It was something to be ashamed of, certainly. But no one else knew, and no one ever would. It was not the first time he had been attracted to someone. But it was definitely the first time he had jerked off to the thoughts of one. He supposed that he felt bad about it because he was to be married to someone else in a couple of weeks.

He needed to leave it as it was. Nothing but a little attraction. He was not sure if he could even look at Kai in the eye again after what he had done to himself thinking about the boy.

“Stupid,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Stupid, stupid, stupid.”

He shoved the eiderdown aside and climbed out of the bed. There were the sparks his sister had told him about, busting in his chest. There was the fatal attraction that made it difficult for Sehun to sleep at night. There were the skipping heartbeats, which had him gasping for breath. All for another man.

The worst part of it all was that he knew that Kai was only teasing him. Or was he? What was last night about? What he had said in the library?

Sehun’s heart thundered every time those words echoed in his head. Perhaps he had heard Kai wrong. Perhaps it had all been a misunderstanding. But what if he had not heard him wrong? In that case, what did it mean? Sehun had spent most of last night cudgelling his brain over what it could have meant. He had not been able to think straight. The way Kai had said it… The meanings it could have conveyed…

On the one hand, Sehun wanted to find out what Kai had meant by that. On the other, he told himself to stay as far away as he could from the boy.

Areum was right. Kai was nothing but bad news. Through and through, all to the core.

Was it aplomb or blind recklessness? Either way, Sehun was dangerously drawn to it. He ought to keep his distance from Kai, or his curiosity could lead him to precarious situations.

If he planned to stay away from Kai, why was he putting on his best clothes and dusting his cheekbones with faint gold powder? Why did he wash his hair with lavender soap and spritzed his favourite fragranced oil on his neck?

He stood before the mirror once he was ready and frowned at his own reflection. “What are you doing?” he asked the reflection in a soft whisper, hoping that he would get an answer.

He was a prince, for crying out loud. He was betrothed to the Crown Prince of Morridh. He hated that a lowborn, simple, uncouth, ill-mannered, rowdy tearaway from Agaar was driving him this crazy and making him question everything in just a handful of days. Sehun had never met someone as hot and cold as Kai. He could never tell if Kai disliked him or if he were flirting. Was it cheek or overture? Not knowing what it was had been taking a serious toll on Sehun’s sanity.

* * *

He had not found much on Egeryn at the library. Perhaps he had not done enough digging. He was getting somewhere last night when the doe-eyed prince decided to interrupt him.

Kai could tell that he was starting to get under Prince Sehun’s skin. While he very much enjoyed teasing Sehun and watching him fumble and blush, he constantly reminded himself that the boy was the son of his father’s murderer. So, he never let himself get too carried away by those naïve, curious, deep-set, wonder-lusting eyes that never fucking stopped following Kai. In any other situation, he would have flirted with the boy just for the fun of it. It was no secret that Sehun was one of the most beautiful people Kai had ever laid his eyes upon. But that should not matter. He needed to remind himself to never forget who Sehun really was, and what he needed the boy for.

Sehun would be nothing but a tool in his scheme for revenge.

As he walked out into the bailey, he found Yuri, Jaehyun and his brother awaiting by a huge carriage.

“Is this how we are getting to the city?” asked Kai, beckoning to the carriage.

“Yes, why?” said Yuri. Kai eyed the horde of guards that were gathered around the carriage. He sighed.

“Quite a scene,” he muttered to himself, rubbing the back of his neck. Sometimes, he was glad that he did not spend the last few years in Samor, surrounded by guards and unnecessary, fussy extravagance everywhere he went. Of course, the College of Agaar was quite stringent when it came to its students’ security, but there was always a way to sneak out of the dormitories unseen. Most nights, Kai and his friends were up to no good in shoddy taverns and whorehouses, keeping licentious company.

“There is a banquet tomorrow night,” said Jaehyun. “A feast, dancing, performances.”

“Count me out,” Kai said immediately, sliding his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

Yuri made a face. “It could be fun, Kai. And you do not want to disgrace the royal family by turning down their invitation, do you?”

“You think I care?” Kai mumbled, and his friends sighed heavily.

“Why did you even come with us if you’re not going to participate in any of the fun?” said Jaehyun.

Kai could not exactly tell him that he came here seeking revenge, could he? He groaned under his breath and said, “Dancing and hobnobbing with pompous pansies aren’t exactly my forte.”

“You’re a _prince_ ,” Yuri hissed quietly. “Hobnobbing with pompous pansies is your job.”

Kai shrugged. He glanced at Prince Daewon, who was chatting with a guard. There was nothing special about the man. He seemed like a very serious person with little words. And he certainly did not seem like he was all that thrilled to get married to Prince Sehun.

“Just be back in time for lunch,” he heard someone say behind him. Turning around, he found Sehun and one of his stepmothers walking toward the carriage.

“I will, Stepmother,” said Sehun.

She gave his forehead a kiss when he leaned his head down. Kai did not know what to make of the overly physical displays of affection. He had not even seen his mother in seven years. She wrote to him from time to time. He never wrote back, though. He supposed he was still angry at her. For sending him away. For not doing anything about her husband’s murder. The country was stagnant under her regency, waiting for its next rightful king to ascend the throne. It would thrive once more as it did in Kai’s father’s reign. But before that, Kai had a debt to settle.

Anyway, he was not sure if he envied or despised the way the Egeryn family showed affection.

“Is your sister not joining us?” asked Yuri with a light blush on his cheeks.

“No,” said Sehun. “It isn’t right for a lady to trot about the streets with a group of boys, is it?”

“I suppose not,” sighed Yuri with disappointment.

Sehun’s gaze briefly shot past Yuri’s shoulder and landed on Kai. He quickly looked away, his hands curling into fists at his sides. Kai cocked a curious eyebrow.

“Good morning, Prince Jaehyun,” Sehun greeted. “Prince Daewon.”

“Do you only ride in carriages?” asked Daewon. “Would your back break if you rode a horse?” Though he laughed, his tone sounded hostile. Kai blinked his narrowed eyes with a faint scowl.

Sehun lowered his head, face paling. “It is easier for the guards to follow,” he said.

“Ah. You don’t go anywhere without your guards, I reckon.”

“As a matter of fact, I do not,” said Sehun.

“Why?”

Blood returned to Sehun’s cheeks then as his brows furrowed.

“Should we get going?” Kai intervened. “Before we turn to turkey roasts under this sun.”

As they climbed into the carriages, one by one, Kai walked over to Sehun and held out a hand. Sehun paused and took a long look at it before he raised his eyes to glower at Kai.

“I’m not some damsel in distress that needs your help or saving,” said Sehun. Well, that was a quick change in character. He must have been affected by what Kai had told him at the library last night. Good. That meant Kai really had gotten under his skin and was now in his head. And Kai was not planning on leaving anytime soon.

Ignoring Kai’s hand, he climbed into the carriage on his own. Kai smiled regardless and followed after Sehun into the carriage.

“It’s nice of you to come along, Prince Daewon,” said Yuri as the carriage started moving.

“I had time to spare,” said Daewon. “It isn’t like I could do much over here, anyway.”

Yuri cleared his throat. “You must be excited for your engagement party.”

Daewon shot his betrothed a look. Sehun was staring out the carriage window. “It is a marriage of convenience,” said the prince. Sehun looked at Daewon then. “There is nothing to be excited about.”

Kai scoffed.

Daewon turned his gaze to him. “Did I say something funny?”

“No,” said Kai, shrugging. “I just find it very amusing.”

“What is it that you find amusing?” asked Daewon.

Kai sat up straighter in his seat and shot Sehun a brief glance before he looked back at Jaehyun’s brother. “This whole thing. You make it sound like it is an ordeal that you just have to get through.”

Daewon snorted. “You know nothing about this sort of alliances.”

“No,” said Kai smugly. “But with all due respect, I do know that if I were the Crown Prince of a country, I would not be marrying anybody out of _convenience_. Even if I weren’t a prince… I think… I have balls big enough to be a man and get by without the rewards of a political marriage.”

“Kai,” Jaehyun grumbled.

Daewon was now staring daggers at Kai. Sehun, on the other hand, was also staring, though with something akin to surprise in his eyes.

“So, you think you know a lot about being a man, huh?” said Daewon.

“I think I know enough to not to insult the person I am about to marry under any circumstances,” replied Kai.

Everyone fell silent for a few moments thereafter, their gazes bouncing back and forth between Kai and Daewon.

“Okay,” Yuri eventually broke the silence. “Are there any regional delicacies that we should try while we are the city?”

Sehun coughed a little before he spoke. “Um… Yes. If you want to.”

Kai leaned back against his seat and gazed out the window. He meant what he said. He was not the marriage type, and he was determined to never be wed, but if he were, he would never treat his betrothed the way Daewon was treating Sehun. First of all, he would never agree to a marriage of convenience. He would be king one day. He would not be the kind of king that married and bedded someone for political power. He might be apathetic, but hell would have to freeze over before he would ever allow someone that belonged to him to be humiliated in front of others.

Daewon being an ass, however, might play out rather well in Kai’s favour. Perhaps it would not be the worst idea for the bastard to treat Sehun poorly.

When they reached the city after nearly an hour, Kai climbed out of the carriage before Sehun. The guards circled them at once, ensuring no passer-by could get near them.

“I told you I don’t need your saving,” Sehun muttered to Kai as he got out of the carriage.

“I was not saving you,” said Kai. “I was just teaching him good manners. Like I did with you the other day.” He smiled.

Sehun did not find that amusing. He continued to glare at Kai before he walked away.

Heaving a sigh, Kai followed the others down the bustling street that was thronging with people. Some stopped to gawk at their prince. Some started speculating about who the others might be.

In front of Kai, Jaehyun was muttering something to his older brother, who waved him off annoyedly. “It does not matter,” Kai heard Daewon say.

“You are not even _trying_ to woo him, Brother,” Jaehyun grumbled.

“I do not have to. He is already mine, anyway,” Daewon replied. “So, who cares? Do you think I have the time for this sort of nonsense?”

Kai clenched his jaw. Daewon was not only rude, he was arrogant, too. Impatient and overconfident. The two of the deadliest mistakes in a battle.

Kai glanced at Sehun, who was engaged in a conversation with Yuri. He did not seem to have heard the conversation between Daewon and his brother.

“What smells so good?!” Yuri asked, nearly moaning.

Sehun pointed to a nearby stall and said, “Lime wafers.” He looked to a guard, who promptly nodded his head and hurried over to the food stall. As they strolled past a few more stalls, Sehun stopped in his tracks momentarily to stare at the couple at a stall, whose owner was peddling silver chains. They looked like talismans.

“It is for good luck,” the trader said to the two men, who were clearly lovers. One of them had a taut swollen belly. “And I reckon you might need some for the child.”

“Do you like it?” the other asked the bearer, who nodded bashfully. They did not seem like they came from a wealthy background, but they were dressed decently well. Every time they looked at each other, there was apparent affection in their eyes.

“Sehun?” Yuri called, diverting Sehun’s attention.

“Yes?”

“I asked, how far is the paint shop.”

“Oh. Not far. Just a couple of blocks down.”

Sehun looked to Daewon, who was scowling at the buildings they passed by, as he started walking again before he glanced back to Kai with great, palpable hesitance in his expression. Kai did not smile at the boy this time. Instead, he mirrored Sehun’s serious look and licked his lips. Sehun turned away once more, swallowing hard.

Kai glimpsed the stall selling talismans again and smirked to himself.

When the guard returned to the group with a handful of skewers, he handed them over to Sehun. “Here you go, Your Highness.”

Sehun handed them each one. When he held a skewer out to Daewon, the Morridhian Prince grimaced and shook his head condescendingly as he started walking away. Sehun withdrew his hand and lowered his gaze to the lime wafers. Kai noticed the angered look in every one of the guards’ faces then. Even the guards must pamper Sehun so much that they were displeased by Daewon’s insulting and discourteous behaviour.

“Don’t I get one?” asked Kai, wearing a cheeky smile. “Or are you still mad at me?” Sehun looked up at him and blinked with surprise before he held a skewer out to Kai.

“Here,” he muttered as Kai took the skewer from his hand. Sehun’s cheekbones turned into a soft hue of pink under the thin layer of gold powder when their fingers brushed.

“This is so good!” exclaimed Yuri.

“It really is,” added Jaehyun, taking another wafer ball into his mouth.

Kai kept his eyes on Sehun as he slid a wafer from the skewer with his teeth. Sehun quickly looked away, but his florid face had already given his embarrassment away. The soft wafer quickly melted in his mouth, leaving a wet papery layer on his tongue along with the tangy flavour of lime.

“So, Sehun,” called Jaehyun at length. “Is there any good knocking shop around?”

Sehun looked puzzled. “A knocking shop?” he echoed confusedly.

Jaehyun scratched the back of his head. “A cathouse.”

“Do you mean like a farm?”

Kai laughed despite himself. There was something about Sehun’s lack of guile and wide-eyed innocence that charmed and delighted Kai. It was not every day that he met boys his age who did not know what a cathouse was.

“What His Highness means is a… brothel, My Prince,” said one of the guards.

Sehun bit his lip and glanced away, clearing his throat. “I do not… know any, Prince Jaehyun,” he admitted.

“Yeah, I can see that,” replied Jaehyun. “Sorry for overstepping my bounds.” He raised an arm to Kai’s shoulder and quietly said, “Looks like we are up for an adventure. Shall we sneak out tomorrow after the banquet?”

Kai pulled away from him and said, “You are going to have to go on that adventure on your own, buddy.”

“What? Really? Look around you, Kai. Nairthan beauty! All around us!”

Kai could not exactly disagree with that. Everywhere he turned, he saw beautiful people. There was a rugged charm to the Nairthans, but he had his eyes on something gentler.

“I agree,” he murmured, looking at Sehun.

“I did not come here to go to a fucking paint shop,” grumbled Jaehyun. Sometimes, Jaehyun was as crude and rebellious as Kai was. The two of them were the furthest thing from a noble prince. But unlike Kai, Jaehyun had fewer responsibilities. He was third in line and would most likely never sit on the throne. Kai would be crowned king in about a month’s time.

“We should stay together,” said one of the guards. “It is not safe for you to wander the streets of the city unguarded, Your Highness.”

“We’ve survived worse odds,” scoffed Jaehyun. “Remember?”

Kai grinned at a memory. He recalled the night they had faced and beaten a group of muggers in an alley in the dead of the night. It had been such a rush, and they both were sloshed to the point of tripping over one’s own feet.

When they finally arrived at the paint shop, Daewon ordered some of the guards to stand guard outside while the rest followed Sehun into the shop. Daewon seemed at ease for once, ironically, when he was giving out orders. The guards looked confused at first, unsure of whether or not to take the Morridhian Prince’s command, but they eventually obeyed.

“Your Highness!” a voice screeched from inside before a dwarfish man scampered to the door to welcome his customers. He was as short as a child, and he sported a thick red beard and was covered in paint. “You could have sent for me. You should not have come all the way down here.”

“It’s all right, Fen,” said Sehun, urging the dwarf to rise. “These are my friends visiting from Agaar. They wanted to see the city and your shop, in particular.”

Yuri offered his hand to the dwarf. “I am looking for your finest grade gouache paints,” he said. “Sehun here tells me that you are the best paint supplier in the city.”

Fen, the dwarf, beamed proudly. “Aye, that I am. Come with me. I will point you to my best products.”

As Yuri excitedly followed Fen into the shop, Jaehyun and Sehun turned to the painted canvases on display. Kai glanced at Daewon who opted to stay outside, chatting with the guards again.

Sighing, he wandered down the brush aisle, wondering why there were so many types. He had never been interested in painting or art or music or dancing. Even as a child, at the palace, he hated attending his waltz lessons.

He picked up a brush and stared at its fuzzy tip for a moment before he ran his thumb over it. It felt like horsehair. Then he brandished the paintbrush, as though it were a sword.

“Ehem,” he heard Sehun say as he approached.

Kai held the brush up and said, “Is this horsehair?”

Sehun retrieved the brush from Kai’s hand and gave it a good study. “The bristles are made from badger hair. Flagged bristles. Holds more paint.”

“You like painting?” asked Kai, genuinely surprised.

Sehun sighed. “I take interest in a lot of things,” he said, placing the paintbrush back on the shelf. He drew his fingers over the other brushes.

“What… other things?” asked Kai.

Sehun licked his lips. “Geography, astronomy, ethnochoreology, literature–”

“Ethno-what?” scoffed Kai.

“It’s the study of dance. I can’t do all the dances, but I like learning about them. From all over the world.”

“Wow,” Kai let out. “I can’t even read two sentences on a history book page without wanting to give up on life.”

Sehun dropped his gaze. “I know it sounds pathetic to boys like you.”

Kai blinked. “No,” he said. “I think it’s impressive.”

Sehun raised his head then and met Kai’s gaze with that disbelieving look again. “You… do?”

“Yeah,” Kai said, and he meant it. It was not to trick or tease Sehun. He truly found having so many interests and the eagerness to learn about them as incredibly impressive. “I would not mock you just because I do not possess the intelligence or the inquisitive spirit to learn about all these things.”

“You do not think… it’s weak and wimpy?”

Kai grimaced then. “My father used to say that knowledge is a man’s strongest weapon. Even when all else fails him, his wisdom will show him the way.”

Wow, he had not thought about that in years. It was something that his father told him every time he ran away from his preceptors, refusing to attend his lessons when he was younger.

He swallowed hard and turned his face away, pretending to be interested in the paintbrushes. The sudden sorrow in his expression must have been visibly obvious because Sehun had fallen silent, too.

“Is your father… not around anymore?” Sehun asked.

Kai kept his gaze low. The boy was admirably perceptive. Kai ought to be more careful around him. Perhaps he was not as naïve as Kai had thought him to be. Sehun was sharp in some ways.

“No,” he answered, knowing that lying right now would expose him. “He isn’t.”

“I’m sorry,” Sehun whispered.

Kai felt his chest tighten. It was not Sehun who should be sorry. It was his father. He picked up another brush and surveyed the bristles.

Sehun reached up and took hold of it. This time, Kai did not let go of the brush as their fingers were wrapped around one another. “Why did you say that?” Sehun asked in a very low voice, just for them both to hear.

Kai arched an eyebrow. Sehun’s fingers were slender and warm, and though his grip was not hard, it was firm. “Why did I say what?”

With a clenched jaw, Sehun said, “Do not play coy. What did you mean about what you said at the library last night?”

Kai released the brush and pulled his hand away to run it through his hair. “Why do you want to know?” he asked, smirking.

Sehun opened his mouth but quickly shut it. He looked away for a length, scowling before he faced Kai once more. “If you are just teasing, I suggest that you stop before you get too far.”

“But I was not teasing,” said Kai.

Sehun’s jaw fell slack, and he struggled to find his next words as he stammered and stuttered. “I… Y-You…”

Kai exhaled a heavy breath and took a step closer to the boy. “I meant what I said,” he told Sehun. “The engagement is as far as you are going to get with… him.” He jerked his chin toward the entrance where Daewon was standing.

Sehun’s scowl deepened. “What makes you say that? Are you planning on ruining my wedding?”

Kai chuckled. “No,” he snorted. “I did not say I’d be the one ruining it.”

Sehun’s glower faded into something like a confused frown.

Kai sighed and pulled the brush out of Sehun’s grip to put it back where it belonged. “Admit it,” he said in a whisper. “You do not want to marry him.”

Sehun stood still and stiff, but Kai could practically hear his drumming heartbeat. “That is none of your business,” he said when he finally found the courage to speak.

Kai raised a hand to the shelf behind Sehun and said, “You did not deny it, though.”

“I…” His eyes, unblinking and shocked, refused to look away from Kai’s in that instant.

Kai pulled away and shrugged. “Good to know,” he said and walked away, adjusting the collar of his shirt.

* * *

“Are you happy with the paints?” Sehun asked Yuri when they returned to the palace and climbed out of the carriage.

“I am more than happy!” said Yuri. Sehun was glad that Yuri was satisfied with their brief trip to the city and his purchase. “I cannot wait to try them.”

“I can have some canvases and easels sent to you room, if you’d like.”

Yuri’s eyes glistened with excitement. “You are too kind to me, Sehun.” He bowed his head, hugging his new paint set to his chest, and walked away.

Sehun turned to his fiancé as he walked past him. “Prince Daewon,” he called.

“Yes,” said Daewon, turning to Sehun.

“I hope you had a good time this morning,” he said.

Daewon’s brows furrowed into a frown. “Do you go out a lot?”

Sehun did not answer immediately because he was not sure why Daewon was asking him that. “Not… often. Why do you ask?”

“Well, once we are married, I hope you do not wander around like this.”

“I do not wander,” said Sehun. “You cannot expect me to stay inside the palace days on end.”

“Yes, I can,” said Daewon. “Isn’t that why we paid your father in heaps of gold and a bounded allegiance?”

Sehun’s heart clenched. He nodded his head, though all that he wanted to do in that moment was put a fist through Daewon’s face.

“There are certain expectations you need to live up to as my consort.” With that, Daewon ambled away from Sehun, who was choking on a lump in his throat.

He glanced over to Kai when he saw the boy walking towards him with that same smug smile playing on his lips.

“I do not need your quips,” Sehun told him sternly with a black look. “So, save them.”

“Hm,” Kai hummed as he slid a hand into the pocket of his trousers. “I thought this would look good on you.”

He pulled the hand out of his pocket and unclenched it to reveal a silver anklet with a tiny leaf charm on it.

“It’s supposed to bring you good luck,” said Kai. “It just seemed like you could use some right now.”

Sehun arms felt stiff and numb as his stomach clenched painfully. At the same time, his chest was bursting with fireworks. He was unable to even breathe as he gawked at the dull, gimcrack anklet in Kai’s hand. There was nothing special about it. In fact, Sehun had never even touched something as cheaply made and flimsy as it. Yet, his heart was racing unchecked.

It was from the pedlar in the city. The one that was selling talismans to the lovely couple. Sehun had looked at them with a new sort of longing. He had never really believed in love, apart from familial love, but now that he was about to be married to a man who felt no affection for him, he was rueing his future.

He should refuse. It would be the sound thing to do. Why was Kai even doing this?

“Do you not want it?” Kai asked at length as Sehun continued to stare at the anklet. “Well, you’re breaking my heart here, Your Highness.”

Sehun swallowed and lifted a hand. Smiling, Kai placed the thin chain in Sehun’s palm. “Why?” he asked, looking at Kai with wide, pitiful eyes.

Kai shrugged. “Like I said. It just seemed like you could use some luck.”

No boy had ever bought him anything. Let alone something that Sehun had wanted. As Kai walked away, Sehun held the anklet in his hand and breathed heavily. It was the first time someone had gifted him something so trivial, and yet it was already Sehun’s most priceless possession.


	5. Chapter 5

There was a knock on the door. Kai raised his head and looked at Jaehyun, who barged into the room just as Kai was done lacing his boots.

“Is there something that you want?” he asked from where he was seated on the edge of his bed.

Jaehyun marched over to the bed and plumped down beside Kai. “Are you sure you want to keep it all a secret?” he asked.

Kai cocked an eyebrow. “What… do you mean? What secret?”

Jaehyun’s eyes bored into his for a moment. “This. You. I don’t get why you insist on pretending to be some commoner. You are the Crown Prince of Samor. Imagine what these people would do to welcome you in their home!”

“Precisely,” said Kai. “I do not need that kind of attention. And I don’t want my mother to find out that I left Agaar without her knowledge or her permission and that I’m currently here. I just came here for some time off.” Part of it was true. He did not want his mother to find out. But he was not here to relax. He had work to do.

Jaehyun heaved a heavy breath. “I can’t believe you disagreed with my brother yesterday. I know he can be a jerk, but now you’re going to have him breathing down your neck.”

“Do you approve of the way he has been treating his betrothed?”

“No,” said Jaehyun. “But Prince Sehun knows what he is getting into. They have been betrothed to one another since they were children.”

“And that makes it okay for your brother to insult him every chance he gets?”

Jaehyun sighed. “You’re right. I will try talking to him.”

Kai doubted that talking to Daewon would change anything.

Jaehyun’s brows furrowed then. “Why do you care?” he asked curiously. “You never care about anyone or anything.”

The question struck a nerve. Kai was silent for a length, looking for the answer. Yes, he wanted to get Sehun’s attention, but was it all? He was being defensive of the boy right now even when Sehun was not here to spectate. “I don’t really care,” he scoffed eventually. “But your brother’s a horse’s ass.”

“Ah. You want to be the star jerk everywhere.”

Kai flung a cushion at Jaehyun’s face. “You’re not wrong.” He rose from the bed and grabbed his coat. “Any luck with the servant boy?”

Jaehyun blinked. “What?”

“You have been eyeing him the same way you eye a piece of succulent meat during solstice fasting every time he’s in the same room as you.”

“Kai,” Jaehyun grumbled as his ears turned red. “It’s… nothing like that.”

“Are you… blushing?” Kai grimaced with disgust.

“I’m not. Cut it out. He’s just… cute.” He shrugged.

“Then take him to bed.”

“He hasn’t really… noticed me, though.”

“Then make him notice you. I reckon that would not be too difficult for you. You are a prince after all.”

Jaehyun pushed himself up from the bed and raised a hand to Kai’s shoulder. “Thank you for always being my wingman.”

Kai rolled his eyes and shrugged Jaehyun’s hand off his shoulder.

“Wait,” said Jaehyun. “Where are you off to?”

“The city.”

“But the banquet.”

“Make up some excuse for my absence, will you?”

“Kai,” groaned Jaehyun, grabbing his arm. “Is everything all right?”

Kai cocked an eyebrow. “Yes.”

“You have been acting strange since we came here. You’re barely around.”

“There’s just so much to see around here.” Kai pulled away from his friend and started for the door. Jaehyun pinned him with a doubtful look as Kai walked out of the room.

The library had not yielded much information on Egeryn. Kai needed to find a more reliable source. He did not know what he was looking for specifically, but just any dirt to confirm Egeryn’s foul play would do. It was all that Kai would need to expose the king for his treachery.

“Oh, you there!” he heard someone call after him as he started down the stairs.

Turning around, he glanced to the woman, one of the king’s consorts, in the corridor. She was accompanied by a servant boy struggling to lug a crate. It was the same servant boy Jaehyun had been ogling.

“Could you help us for a moment, young man?” she asked with a pleasant, familiar smile. It was the same smile Kai had seen on Sehun.

It must be his mother.

“Of course,” said Kai as he hurried over to help the servant boy lift the crate. “The name’s Kai, by the way, Your Highness.”

“Oh, yes,” she said. “It just slipped my mind. My memory isn’t what it used to be.”

Kai mirrored her friendly smile as he raised one end of the crate to his shoulder. “That’s all right, Your Highness. If you don’t mind my asking, aren’t you the Princess of Daer?”

“Indeed I am,” she replied. “My mother is the Queen Dowager of Daer.”

Kai had read plenty about Egeryn’s family tree at the library in the past few days. “I am sorry about your father’s recent passing.”

She bowed her head, smiling weakly. “Thank you.”

As they made their way through the corridor, Kai asked, “Your son is the one who is getting engaged, isn’t he?”

“Yes,” she said. There was no hint of excitement in the way she said it. “He is my only child. I am going to be very sad when he leaves for Morridh.”

Kai wondered if his own mother had been that sad when she shipped him off to Agaar. But he supposed it must have been hard for her to lose both her husband and son in the same week.

He could sympathize, but he was not ready to forgive her.

“But that is how it is, isn’t it?” she sighed. “Children leave eventually.”

“I never left my family,” Kai said. “I never wanted to. And yet, I am orphaned. Sometimes, it’s not a choice the children can make.”

She looked at him as though he had said something shocking. Her lips were pressed into a thin smile as she nodded. “Sometimes.”

“But your son will be happy where he goes, wouldn’t he? This is what you want for him.”

Her smile faltered then as she looked away, the guilt palpable in her face. She was quiet for a moment before she said, “I want him to be happy, of course. Above all else.”

It was all that Kai needed to hear. Sehun’s mother would be supportive of her son, no matter what.

When they finally reached the room, she opened the doors and ushered them inside.

Kai heard giggles and gasps before he saw the two little girls running towards him. “More gifts!” one of them exclaimed. Tami.

It was a sunroom. The glass roof looked like muraled ceiling with hovering clouds on a vast canvas of blue. The floor was bestrewn with cushions, eiderdowns and trays of sweetmeats and decanters along with open crates and trunks full of glinting gold and gems, silks and velvets.

“Another one?” asked Areum as she sat up on the piles of cushions. Lowering the crate to the ground, Kai’s gaze darted to Sehun, who jolted upright where he was previously lounged restfully on. His eyes widened, boring into Kai’s.

“This is the last one,” said Sehun’s mother, turning to Kai. “Could you open it, please?”

Kai rolled his shoulders back as he went down on his knees to unlatch the crate. Grunting a little, he pulled the top off the crate and dropped it to the ground.

Tami and Yara lunged at the content of the crate at once, gasping at all the embroidered silk. “Sparkly,” chimed Yara.

Rising back to his feet, Kai shot Sehun a smirk and watched the boy quickly avert his gaze, blushing.

“We might need _another_ palace to store all this,” said Areum.

“Taeyong,” called Sehun’s mother. “Come. Sit. Have some rest and some sweets.”

The servant boy did not refuse. He looked exhausted enough to accept the invitation with gratitude. Kai could see why Jaehyun seemed to have taken an interest in the boy. He was quite beautiful, in spite of being clad in a lot less opulence than the people he was surrounded with. He did not seem much interested in anything that went on around him. He did what he was told to do and stayed silent otherwise.

“You too, Kai,” said Sehun’s mother. “Join us. But save your appetite for the banquet tonight.”

Kai did not tell her that he would not be attending as he bowed his head and walked towards the beds of cushions. He watched Sehun gnaw at his lower lip, his eyes following Kai’s every movement with intent. He stared so much that Kai sometimes found it unnerving.

He dropped onto the cushions beside Princess Areum and smiled at her when she handed him a filled cup. “It’s beebalm tea,” she said. Kai accepted it and took a swig. Like her brother, Areum loved staring too, though she did it less conspicuously. Her stares were somewhat hostile, however. Kai could tell that she thought he was up to no good. And she was right.

“Sehun, sweetheart,” his mother called, and Sehun took a moment to respond. He tore his gaze away from Kai and set it on his mother, who was pulling out a heavily embroidered mantle out of the crate. “This is exquisite.”

Sehun made a face. “Mother, I’ve never worn a mantle in my life. Areum can have it.”

“I do not need your rejects,” his sister scoffed, though she seemed quite entranced by the mantle. “But I would not mind taking that off your hands.”

“You can take them all,” Sehun grumbled, lowering his head to fiddle with the feathers on a nearby eiderdown. He eventually lifted his gaze just enough to leer at Kai. If Kai did not know any better, he would have thought that the prince was making sheep eyes at him.

“You mustn’t be this way, darling,” his mother sighed as she settled on the cushions beside her son with the velvet cloak in her hands. “These aren’t… payments. They are gifts.”

Kai had heard what Daewon thought of the ‘gifts’. From the Morridhian Prince’s vantage point, all this extravagance was payment. To purchase Sehun. Kai wondered if he would ever want someone enough to _buy_ them with crates of such splendour and grandiosity. In the past, he had paid a few people exorbitantly just for a night. He supposed that was what Daewon had lowered Sehun’s value to. He had put a price to it.

And Kai could now see that it bothered Sehun.

Perhaps he would not have to do much to get Sehun’s attention after all. Sehun might just fall right into Kai’s arms on his own.

The seed was sown. Kai now just had to play his cards right and watch his work blossom right in front of him.

“Can’t we just return them?” asked Sehun, frowning. “We have enough.”

“Sehun,” his mother chided. “It would be rude to return their gifts.”

Sehun huffed angrily and hugged his legs to his chest. Planting his chin between his knees, he looked at Kai.

Kai cleared his throat after taking another sip of the unsweetened tea. “The way I see it,” he said. “it is a liability.”

Sehun raised his head, the anger in his expression melting away as a gentle blush formed on his cheeks. “How so?” asked Areum.

“It’s a burden. An exchange. And a transaction,” said Kai. “In this transaction, the so-called gifts are the wherewithal. A marriage should never be a transaction.”

“So, you are saying that when you are to take someone’s hand in marriage,” said Areum. “you would not give or receive marriage portions?”

“Call it what it is,” said Kai, looking to Sehun’s mother now. “Payment. With all these gifts and I’m sure other promises, you are giving your son away. Now, I’m no scholar, but that sounds a lot like a transaction to me.” He turned to Areum next. “So, your son is liable. And to answer your question, I expect the person I wish to marry and share my burdens with to come as they are. I would neither treat them nor would I want to be treated as a commodity and the marriage as a transaction. I am not someone that can be swayed by these grand gestures.”

Areum snorted, looking ready for an argument. “Clearly you were not born into a noble family. Marriages of convenience rarely have such sentiments. My brother is well-aware of that.”

And yet, here he was, distressed by all this wealth thrown in his face as part of his marriage. Kai glanced at Sehun then with a knowing look and saw Sehun look even more dismayed than before.

“Then perhaps your brother is receiving his just rewards,” Kai told Areum before he rose to his feet and faced Sehun’s mother. “I beg your forgiveness, Your Highness. It was not my intention to offend you by disagreeing with you. I will take my leave.”

The woman nodded her head, though she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, her brows knitted together in a worried frown as she carded her fingers through his son’s hair absentmindedly.

* * *

As Kai walked out of the sunroom without sparing him another glance, Sehun felt his heart sink to his stomach. Kai was right. This marriage was a transaction, and Sehun had agreed to it in spite of knowing that. Actually, he did not have much say in the arrangement. He just did what was expected of him. It was how it always was. He was the golden child. He never disappointed. He never dishonoured his family, especially his father.

But suddenly, he felt like he was making a mistake.

What Kai had said in the end cut Sehun deeply. He was getting what he deserved. For not speaking his heart, for not refusing. But there was something more. Kai sounded annoyed and even mad. At Sehun.

“Don’t listen to him,” said Areum after Kai was gone. “He doesn’t understand how these things work. We are not commoners.”

Sehun glanced to his mother, who had gone uncharacteristically silent. Taeyong licked the crumbs of the sweetmeat from his fingers and cleared his throat.

“I will take these,” he said, picking up the emptied bowls and decanters.

Eventually rising to her feet, Sehun’s mother said, “I will have the servants come up and put all of this away.”

Sehun said nothing in reply as his mother and Taeyong made their way out of the sunroom. Yara and Tami were still not worn out from investigating the contents of the trunks and crates.

“What are you thinking about?” Areum asked with a set of narrowed eyes.

Sehun sighed and fell back against the cushions. “He has a point,” he said. “This marriage is a… transaction.”

“Yes, in a way,” admitted Areum. “But you were fine with it, weren’t you? You said that you were practical.”

“And you said that it would be magical to fall in love with someone.”

Areum fell quiet for a moment as though she were dumbstruck. Sehun propped himself up on his elbows to look at her.

“What if… I’m making a mistake, Areum?” he asked.

She shook her head, crawling closer to him. “Just a few days ago you were all prepared to marry Prince Daewon, even if it is only a marriage of convenience. You said that you can live with it, and that it did not matter whether or not you love each other. What… changed?” she asked.

“He is not a nice man, Areum,” groused Sehun, even though that was not even the biggest concern of his. “I am not compatible with him in any way.”

“No, no,” she said. “There is something else. What are you not telling me?”

Sehun swallowed. “I just… don’t know if I can live with someone I don’t even like for the rest of my life.”

“Who… do you like then?”

Sehun was silent, his lips pressed into a thin line.

His half-sister gasped loudly into her hands. “Sehun!” she yelped. “You have got to be kidding me. I told you he is bad news! I knew it! I knew it!”

“Areum–”

“The way you kept looking at him! I knew it! You are out of your mind.”

“I didn’t do anything,” Sehun muttered unconvincingly. “It’s not what you think.”

“Oh, yeah? Then how do you know what I’m thinking?” She rubbed her temples and adjusted her earrings. “You must stop. He is a lowborn, unmannered, bratty, opinionated rogue.”

“He speaks the truth, Sister,” Sehun let out. “Most of the time.”

“When did this even happen?” she rasped. “Was it when he humiliated you when we first met him?”

“No! And he did not… humiliate me. I should have apologized first for bumping against him.”

“You are being defensive of him now?” She scoffed and shook her head disapprovingly. “This will only end in tears and possibly blood, Sehun. Do you remember what Father did to the minister who tried to misbehave with you?”

Sehun shivered at the thought. He regretted reporting to his father about the minister, who was propositioning Sehun inappropriately. He had expected his father to fire the man from his post or give him a warning at most. But his father’s reaction had been so much more severe that Sehun still had nightmares about it.

“You cannot tell anyone, Areum,” he told his sister. “And… it’s not what you think. I just… I’ve never… felt this way before. I don’t know what I should do. I probably will not do anything, but it’s still… difficult for me. I would not want to get him trouble. So, please, don’t breathe a word about this to anybody.”

“I won’t,” promised Areum. “But you cannot let this get any further, Sehun.”

Sehun was not sure if he could promise her that. He had spent another night losing his sleep over the thoughts of Kai. Nothing dirty this time, but something even worse. He was… happy. He felt a strange mix of mirth and gratification whenever he thought of Kai. And the anklet.

Oh, the anklet.

Even thinking of it now made Sehun smile.

His sister stared at him. “Sehun, this is serious,” she said, noticing Sehun’s unconscious smile.

“I’m not going to do anything, don’t worry. I would never hurt our father. Prince Daewon is a jackass, but if Father approves of him, then I…”

Sehun could not bring himself to say it. Not when his head and heart were suddenly so full of another boy. It was stupid, of course. This entire thing was foolish and ridiculous. Sehun knew the magnitude of this hilarity. He could only hope that this little infatuation of his would wane with time. Even if it did not, there was not much of an option for him. Besides, he did not even know if he had been misreading Kai’s advances. What if Kai were just teasing him or simply being polite?

In that case, Sehun would be more crestfallen than if he were married to Daewon.

“You don’t have to marry him if you don’t want to,” said Areum. “You can tell Father that. It’s not too late. But if the reason why you don’t want to now is… Kai, then I must advise you against it, Brother. You know nothing of this boy. You’ve literally only known him for less than a week.”

“Areum,” Sehun huffed. “you are worried over nothing.” He rose to his feet and started for the door. “I am not going to do anything. I promise.”

Even then, his sister pinned him with a concerned frown. She was right to worry, though.

* * *

The tavern was swamped when Kai sauntered into it. The afternoon heat licked the back of his neck, leaving behind beads of sweat. He ran a hand through his hair and looked around the tavern for the space to sit.

When he finally found one at an already crowded table, he walked over to it and took his seat on the bench. The men at the table were tearing into pieces of meat with their hands and teeth and quaffing cheap ale.

“What’ll you have, doll?” the tavernkeeper, a plump woman possibly in her early forties, asked walking over to Kai.

“Just some ale,” Kai said.

Nodding her head, the tavernkeeper walked away with his order.

“Not from around here, are ya?” asked one of the men at the table.

“No, I’m not,” replied Kai. “What gave me away?”

The men laughed among themselves. “Everything, pretty boy. Where are you from?” asked another.

“Samor,” said Kai. He had no reason to lie in here. These men, as sloshed as they were regardless of it being only midday, would forget this encounter the instant they stepped out of this tavern.

“Samor?” the man with the thick, black beard said. “That’s a long way from here.”

“Do you not have a lot of Samorian visitors?” Kai asked as the tavernkeeper returned to the table with his tankard of ale.

“Not since the Samorian King died on his visit here.” He scoffed.

Kai clenched his jaw and took a small sip of the ale. “Tragic,” he muttered.

“Very,” said another man at the table. “You must have been a child when it happened, right? Do you remember how your nation coped with the loss?”

Kai shook his head slowly. “Not much,” he lied through his grit teeth. “What do you gentlemen remember about the… tragedy?”

“Oh, everything,” said the first man. “You see, the two countries never had much of a feud. Politically and diplomatically speaking, they were on good terms. But their kings… Now, that’s a different story.”

Kai gulped another mouthful of the ale.

“It’s all fable!” yapped another man.

“No, it isn’t,” said the first man.

“What… isn’t?” asked Kai.

“Oh, you must have heard about how the two kings fought over the Princess of Emeth. She was betrothed to King Egeryn first. But she betrayed him and eloped with King Radaal.”

Kai shuddered a little at the mention of his house. He tried not to show his trepidation show. “Vaguely,” he muttered. “Never believed that story either.”

“It is true!” the man spat at Kai. His voice then dropped to a whisper only for the men at the table to hear. “Some say… the king invited Radaal into his home to… finally get his revenge.”

Kai drew a shaky breath as a thick lump formed in his throat.

“Maie, you’re drunk,” said one of his friends. “You should stop talking.”

“Shh,” Maie hushed him. “Egeryn collects the most beautiful, fertile women, in case you haven’t noticed. He wanted a bearer son. Legend has it that the prettiest women bore the luckiest bearers in Nairth. And the Princess of Emeth was the most beautiful of all. But Radaal took her for own. It devastated Egeryn. If you ask me, Egeryn was right to kill the bastard who took what was his.”

The other men stared at Maie and then at Kai, who quietly drained the tankard.

“You might just get yourself executed for saying that, Maie,” said another man.

“Oh, I don’t have much of a life, anyway,” he drawled.

“I won’t tell anyone,” said Kai. “Don’t worry.”

“In that case,” he said. “buy us a round.”

With a corner of his lips quirked up into a smirk, Kai waved tavernkeeper over.

* * *

“Are you decent?” his stepmother asked as she wandered into his chambers.

“Yes,” Sehun said, turning away from the mirror. His stepmother, Areum’s mother, stopped to grin at him, mustering him from top to bottom.

“You look very handsome,” she said.

Sehun smiled. “I hope I am not underdressed for the banquet.” But he was. He simply did not feel like overdoing it tonight. So, he had opted for a simple maroon tunic with an embroidered collar.

“You would not be once you put this on.” It was then when he noticed the box in his stepmother’s hands. “Prince Daewon sent this for you. He wants you to wear it to the banquet.”

Sehun frowned as his stepmother opened the box to reveal a gaudy, over-accessorized medallion with a thick, gold chain. “Do I… have to?”

“It will make him happy, I’m sure, if you do.” She handed him the box and adjusted the collar of his tunic. “Come on down. The banquet’s about to start.”

As she left him alone, he placed the box on the dresser and grimaced at the showy golden medallion. Then heaving a sigh, he walked over to the balcony and gazed somberly at the evening sky.

He took a few deep breaths and glanced at the silver talisman around his ankle. He decided that he wore enough accessory and left the medallion on the dresser as he headed down to the courtyard where the banquet was taking place.

Every member of the king’s court was attending. And their families, too. The tables were teeming with all sorts of food items. There was a fountain of flowing wine, too. The middle of the courtyard was carpeted for the performances and dancing. Musicians were ready with their lutes, drums and harps. The torches were blazing. It would be a night to remember.

Everyone that Sehun knew was there. Except for the one that he wanted to see the most.

He frowned, noticing Kai’s absence.

“You look lovely, Prince Sehun,” Yuri said as he walked up to him.

“Thank you, Yuri,” Sehun replied. “And likewise.”

Yuri grinned. “You have a fountain of wine!”

Sehun laughed. “We always do.” He loved Yuri’s curiosity and sense of wonder. He was always so excited, always so nice and pleasant. It was a great energy to be around. “You have your sketchpad with you.”

“Oh, yes,” said Yuri, lifting the sketchpad and pencils he was holding. “This is quite the scene to draw!”

“If it turns out good, could I get a copy?”

Yuri’s cheeks reddened. “Really? You would want… my sketch?”

Sehun nodded. “I would even pay for it.”

“Oh, that won’t be necessary. I will sketch whatever you want. It’s the least I could do.”

They made their way to the table where Sehun’s family and Daewon’s family were at, guffawing over wine. “Ah, he’s here!” exclaimed Sehun’s father. He rose from his seat to wrap his arms around Sehun and press a kiss to his forehead. “Sit, sit, my son.”

Sehun frowned as his father ushered him towards the empty seat next to Daewon. But without refusing, Sehun took his seat.

“Good evening, Prince Daewon,” he greeted politely.

But his betrothed was staring at his chest with his brows furrowed. “Where is the medallion? Did you not receive it?” he asked.

Sehun felt his heartbeat quicken in either fear or horror. Perhaps both. “I… didn’t wear it,” he said.

Daewon’s expression hardened as a scowl formed on his face. “Why not?” he hissed under his breath.

Sehun clenched his clammy, trembling hands, keeping his head low.

“Where is your friend?” he heard his father ask Jaehyun.

“Oh… Um… He’s… not feeling well. I don’t think he will be joining us tonight,” replied Jaehyun. It sounded like a fake excuse.

“That’s too bad. Well, let us feast!” He beckoned at the musicians, who immediately started playing.

* * *

Even though Kai did not feel like joining Egeryn and his family for the banquet, he walked up to the second floor when he returned to the palace, smelling like cheap ale and sweat. He had more ale than he had planned to. But he also gained more information than he had expected to.

He had other sources confirming his suspicion. Even Egeryn’s own people thought him to be a murderer.

The ride to the city had worn him out, however. And the ale in his bloodstream was making him drag his feet.

He stopped in the corridor and leaned over the balustrade that overlooked the courtyard to watch the performers who were cavorting about while the band of musicians played a lively music.

He removed his jacket and dropped it to the ground before placing his arms on the balustrade, leaving over. He watched Princess Areum grab her little sister’s hands and lead her to the dancing platform. There were others too, nobles Kai did not recognize. They must be from the king’s court. Even some of the servants were dancing. Jaehyun walked over to the one he had eyes for and nervously said something to the boy to make him blush.

Taeyong shook his head and hurried away as though Jaehyun had threatened to kill him.

Groaning, Jaehyun turned around, palming his face.

Kai’s gaze then flitted to Sehun, who joined his sisters on the dancefloor. He had never looked so happy, Kai realized. He grinned and laughed, as though with a full content heart, as he hooked his arm around Areum’s, skipping in circles. Then clapping their hands, they switched positions. Something glinted around Sehun’s ankle when the leg of his pants rose a little.

Kai straightened up, blinking in surprise. It was the anklet he had given the boy.

Why on earth… would Sehun wear it? Of course, Kai had given it to him to get in his good books. But he, hand to god, never expected Sehun to actually wear it. Not when the boy was a prince with far nicer possessions.

Daewon eventually walked over to Sehun who started dancing with the servants and grabbed him by the arm to pull him aside.

Kai felt his own face crumple into a glower as he watched the Morridhian Prince hiss something into Sehun’s ear that made the boy sad.

Sehun pulled away all of a sudden with an exasperated expression. As he stomped away from the courtyard, he looked up and noticed Kai in the corridor.

Kai waved at him with the same blasé smile.

Something changed in Sehun’s anger immediately, and he started for the staircase.

Kai backed away from the balustrade and stood facing the stairs, waiting for Sehun to come up.

“A fountain of wine?” Kai scoffed when Sehun finally reached the corridor. “Really? Don’t you think it’s excessive?”

Sehun sighed as he joined Kai’s side and leaned his back against a pillar. “I thought you were not feeling well,” he said, crossing his arms over his chest. “Prince Jaehyun needs to come up with a more original excuse.”

Kai shrugged, his gaze dropping to Sehun’s feet. “Why are you wearing it?” he asked.

Sehun unfolded his arms and let them fall to his sides. He did not answer as he looked away, face flushing red.

Kai frowned. “What did he say to you?” he asked next.

Sehun’s eyes turned sad once more. “Nothing,” he muttered.

“It’s your fault, you know?” Kai said. Sehun blinked. “You are letting this happen.”

“I don’t have any choice.”

“Everyone has a choice,” Kai scoffed. “But you keep telling yourself that because you don’t want to make things difficult for you. The easy way is the coward’s way. Good night, Your Highness.”

As he started to turn away, Sehun grabbed his sleeve in a tight fist. Kai cocked an eyebrow at him. “I’m not a coward,” he said.

Kai sighed and closed the distance between them. Sehun released the sleeve of Kai’s shirt, but he continued to stare into Kai’s eyes. He was holding his breath, too.

“Do you want to marry him?” Kai asked, his voice dropping to a menace. Sehun’s lips parted as he exhaled a shaky breath.

“No,” Sehun let out at length.

“Do you like him?”

Sehun shook his head.

“Good,” Kai said and raised a hand to a side of Sehun’s head before he pressed their lips together.

Sehun did not react immediately as he froze into the kiss, eyes clenched shut with Kai’s fingers curling around the locks of his hair. He eventually gasped and brought his hands up to Kai’s chest to shove him back.

“You just… stole my first kiss,” he said in a trembling breath.

Kai shrugged once more. “Then I’m about to steal your second, too.” He took Sehun’s face in his hands and smashed his mouth against Sehun’s, kissing the boy’s quivering lips as Sehun wrapped his hands around Kai’s shirt by the chest.


	6. Chapter 6

“I don’t have any choice,” Sehun said rather unconvincingly.

Kai’s eyes narrowed on him. He was about to say something that would haunt Sehun for the rest of the night, he was certain.

“Everyone has a choice,” Kai then said. He often said what Sehun did not want to hear but at the same time, they were exactly the things that he _needed_ to hear. “But you keep telling yourself that because you don’t want to make things difficult for you.”

Sehun held his breath as he stared at Kai. Once again, it sounded like he was accusing Sehun of something. Something that Kai did not like. He detested Sehun for letting this happen.

“The easy way is the coward’s way,” said Kai, shaking his head disappointedly. “Good night, Your Highness.”

A _coward_?

Sehun grabbed hold of Kai’s shirt sleeve to stop him. Scowling, he said, “I’m not a coward.”

Kai paused for a moment, gaze boring into Sehun’s. Then letting out a heavy breath, he took a couple of steps closer to Sehun and leaned forward.

Sehun stopped breathing, swallowing the lump in his throat.

“Do you want to marry him?” asked Kai in a whisper. It almost sounded like a command. Sehun could not bring himself to speak.

Kai reeked of alcohol, though he did not seem drunk. Just very tired.

When Sehun could find his voice, he answered Kai’s question. “No,” he breathed out.

Kai did not pull away. “Do you like him?”

Why was he asking these questions? Sehun’s chest tightened all of a sudden, and part of him just wanted to spill his heart’s deepest desires to Kai right that instant. He was not only attracted to Kai at this point. It was something more than just a mere infatuation.

Kai was waiting for a response.

Sehun shook his head, realizing that Kai would not take silence for an answer.

“Good,” spat Kai, his hand instantly rising to a side of Sehun’s face. Holding it, he leaned in. And before Sehun even knew what was happening, Kai’s lips were on his. Sehun nearly gasped, but all of his breaths were snatched away.

He could not get himself to move. His hands were fisted tightly, his inexperienced lips were unmoving against Kai’s.

It was his first time being kissed. And it was everything he had thought it would be. Warm, soft, yet at the same time, his insides felt as though they had been set ablaze. He was a practical boy, yes, of course. But it did not mean he had never fantasized about first kisses. One of the biggest downsides to being a prince was that he never got to experience the lovely things commoners could. All that Sehun, as a prince, could afford was stolen glimpses.

He lost himself into the kiss for a moment, relishing in Kai’s soft yet firm, expert lips as they tenderly kissed Sehun’s bottom lip. When the reality finally struck Sehun, he gasped and shoved Kai back, breaking the kiss.

His head was spinning lightly, his chest heaving laboriously. He touched his lips and absentmindedly said, “You just… stole my first kiss.”

Though Kai shrugged in response, the eagerness in his gaze was palpable. “Then I’m about to steal your second, too.”

Sehun’s heart stopped as Kai lunged at him once more, his hands cupping Sehun’s face before he crushed Sehun’s lips under his again. The kiss was rougher than the first. Sehun’s breath hitched as his hands flung up to Kai’s chest and tightened around his shirt. He neither pulled Kai closer nor pushed him away. As his lips began to move against Kai’s, one of Kai’s hands dropped to a side of Sehun’s waist. He drew Sehun close until their bodies were pressed together.

Sehun’s hands rose to Kai’s neck and loosely curled around it. His heart pounded so hard that he was worried that it would jump out of his chest. Kai buried his fingers in Sehun’s hair at the back of his head and sucked gently on Sehun’s lip.

When he pulled back, leaving Sehun breathless and swooning, he paused to survey Sehun’s burning face. He then slowly withdrew his hands from Sehun’s head and waist and rubbed the back of his own neck, taking a few steps back.

Sehun half-expected the bastard to smirk condescendingly, but all that Kai did was look confused and annoyed for a moment as he ran his tongue over his lips.

“I… should go,” he then said and turned on his heel before walking away. Sehun slumped back against the pillar and finally breathed. His knees were close to buckling.

What had he done…

He glanced down at the ground where Kai had left his jacket and picked it up. It smelled like ale and sweat. Sehun decided not to return it to Kai right away. Instead, he retreated to his own chambers with it, not wanting to head back down to the banquet.

That night, he was not able to catch a single wink, as he lay restlessly on his bed. Touching himself to the thought of Kai was one thing. Kissing him a few days before his wedding was another. What if someone had seen him? Oh, God. Sehun could not even imagine the kinds of horror Kai would be put through as a punishment. And Sehun? He would have dishonoured his father.

Sehun sat up and pushed the eiderdown aside. Pulling his knees to his chest, he reached for his ankle and fiddled idly with the anklet as his lips stretched into a lovesick smile.

He could not believe that Kai had noticed it around his ankle. He would not say that Kai was perfect. Of course, he was rough around the edges. He was harsh at times. Brutally blunt and cold. His smirks often hinted at his amusement. But he still seemed perfect to Sehun.

Why couldn’t his marriage be to Kai and not to someone like Daewon, who disapproved everything that Sehun did. And they were not even married yet. Sehun felt as though he knew less about Daewon than he did about Kai.

Earlier at the banquet, Daewon had pulled Sehun aside just to tell him not to make a fool out of himself in front of his family. Sehun had been so horrified by it that he lost all of his spirit for the evening.

But the night turned out to be a night to remember, after all. He lifted his fingers to brush them against his lips, trying to remember the details of the kiss. He shuddered when he realized that he was hungering for more. This was dangerous.

He pulled his hand away from the anklet and reached for the water on the nightstand to wet his parched throat. He looked to the jacket lying on the chaise lounge and rose from his bed to grab it.

Returning to his bed then, he nuzzled into the jacket and inhaled sharply. He loved how it smelled like Kai, earthy and musky. Reclining on the bed again, he hugged the jacket to his chest and stared at the clusters of stars spread across the night sky through the open doors of the balcony as a gentle breeze stroked his cheeks.

* * *

Sehun roused earlier than usual, in spite of not getting much sleep the previous night. After spending the better part of the morning primping himself to look pleasant, he hurried downstairs to breakfast with his family.

And hopefully, Kai.

Much to his joy, Kai was already at the table, joking over something with his two friends. Sehun exhaled shakily as his heart skipped a beat, casting his mind back to the kiss from last night.

His father, the Queen, Daewon and his parents were missing. But everyone else was at the table. Sehun was unable to refrain himself from smiling bashfully when Kai turned in his way with a casual smirk. It was flirtier than usual.

Blushing, Sehun joined his family at the table. Kai did not take his eyes off him. And Sehun was having a hard time removing his own gaze from the other boy.

“Sehun, darling,” his stepmother called. Sehun forced himself to look away from Kai. “You went missing at the banquet last night. Did you leave abruptly?”

Sehun was glad that Daewon was absent. “Yes, Stepmother,” he said. “I was… just tired.”

Kai licked his simpering lips and took a sip of whatever his cup was containing.

Sehun noticed Areum’s gaze bouncing back and forth between him and Kai, who slid the butter across the table to Sehun.

“Thank you,” Sehun muttered, running the knife through the butter. He wondered how Kai knew that he would be looking for the butter first and foremost.

“What are you boys up to today?” asked Sehun’s mother.

“I have best man duties to take care of with my brother today,” sighed Jaehyun.

“Then perhaps you two would like to join us to help us pick out the outfit for Sehun for his engagement party,” his mother said to Kai and Yuri. “We could use the judgment of boys his age. The royal tailor will be here this afternoon.”

“I’d love to!” Yuri said excitedly. “I have never picked out a prince’s outfit before, though.” He looked to Kai and quickly averted his gaze.

“I’d be happy to be of service,” said Kai.

“On the other hand,” said Areum. “Too many opinions would only make things more difficult.”

“Oh, hush,” Areum’s mother said. “You boys are more than welcome to join us for the fitting. Perhaps we would even find something for you to wear to the party.”

Areum fell silent, though she continued to glower at Sehun and Kai. Sehun tried to keep his eyes to himself, but he could feel Kai’s on him the entire time.

The rest of breakfast went by with light-hearted conversations, although every time someone mentioned the forthcoming engagement party or wedding, Sehun’s stomach turned into painful knots.

After breakfast, as Kai made his way out of the feast hall with Jaehyun and Yuri, Sehun went after them before Areum could corner him.

“Kai?” Sehun called, stopping in the hallway.

Kai turned around and so did Yuri and Jaehyun. Sehun bit his lip and hesitated.

“I’ll be with you guys in a moment,” Kai told his friends, who walked away, shrugging.

Sehun glanced around him to make sure that no else was there as Kai ambled over to him with his hands in the pockets of his trousers.

He wore an easy smile that made Sehun’s chest all warm and fuzzy.

“I–” Sehun began to say when Areum called after him.

“Sehun,” she said, walking over with a displeased look on her face.

Their little sisters came running into the hallway after her.

“Oh, Sister! Brother!” yipped Yara. “Come play with us!”

Tami grabbed Kai’s hand and tugged at it excitedly. “You too, mister!” she said. “Hide and go seek!”

Kai chuckled. “Of course, Your Highnesses,” he said. “Who’s it?”

“Good idea,” Sehun agreed, moving away from Areum.

Yara and Tami looked at each other before quietly deciding who should be it. “I’m it!” said Yara. “I’ll count to thirty.”

As soon as Yara turned her back to them, covering her eyes with a hand, Tami ran up the stairs. Sehun turned, too. Areum caught hold of his arm, however.

“We have to hide, Areum,” he told her and withdrew his arm.

“Fine,” she groaned. “But we are not done having this talk.”

As she hurried away, Kai took hold of Sehun’s wrist and yanked him towards the stairs. They raced all the way up to the third floor.

“Wait,” Sehun rasped when they reached the top of the stairs. He then yanked Kai toward the broom closet. “This way.”

Bursting into the broom closet, Sehun hauled Kai inside before shutting the door.

“Well, a broom closet. Isn’t this a classic old person’s hiding spot,” Kai scoffed. Sehun could barely see him in the dark. There might be an oil lamp somewhere, but it was too dark to even look for it. And there was barely any room to fit them both.

Sehun was not sure if he were hiding from his sisters, Areum included, or if he simply needed somewhere private to be with Kai.

Now that they were here, in private, in close proximity, Sehun’s heart was galloping thunderously. He could not make himself turn a single hair. He was well-educated in a lot of fields but hiding in a broom closet with the boy he liked was not one of them.

“Was there something that you wanted to say to me?” Kai asked at length as the silence continued to stretch between them in the darkness.

Sehun breathed heavily, his eyes focused on Kai’s mouth when his vision finally adjusted to the dark of the closet. He did not know what overcame him in the moment as he lurched forward and grabbed Kai’s shirt before yanking him close to smash their lips together.

Kai indulged him, of course, his arms enveloping Sehun’s waist as Sehun kissed him, though briefly. He quickly pulled away and blushed as blood filled his cheeks.

He could tell that Kai was smiling as he cupped the back of Sehun’s head and leaned in for another kiss. It was slow and passionate this time. Kai gave Sehun some moments to even kiss him back, which Sehun took well advantage of.

“Happy?” Kai asked, pulling back a little.

Sehun nodded embarrassedly.

“Have you… really never kissed anyone else before?” asked Kai.

“No,” Sehun said in a breathy whisper, his fingers tangled in the laces of Kai’s shirt.

“Were you upset that I took your first kiss?”

Sehun shook his head quickly. “No,” he said. “I was not. I was just…”

“I’m happy that I hadn’t offended you,” said Kai.

There were many things that Sehun wished to say, but words failed him in that instant. His lips were burning. The pit of his stomach was burning. All of him felt as though it was set aflame. He retrieved his hands from Kai’s chest and hung his head.

This was wrong. So wrong. But Sehun was now looking at Kai once again, tacitly begging for another kiss.

“Olly, Olly oxen free!” they heard Yara call out.

Sehun sighed.

Kai pressed a kiss to his forehead then. Sehun’s heart nearly fell out of his chest. With that, Kai opened the door.

Sehun stopped him, grabbing hold of his arm. “Will you… meet me tonight? At the stables? At midnight?” he asked. He had not even thought of it before he said it.

Kai smiled and bowed his head. “I will.”

Sehun released his arm then.

As Kai made his way out of the broom closet, Sehun drew a few deep breaths, wondering how he was going to survive until midnight.

* * *

“Frills! Yes, Frills!” the flamboyant tailor floated around the room, circling Sehun like a vulture as he threw another layer of frilly cloth over him. “Look at what coral does for his skin!”

Yuri and Kai were sniggering from where they were lounged on the cushions.

Sehun shot Kai a black look. “Sorry,” Kai mouthed at him. Sehun groaned. He was tired of standing there like a mannequin for over three hours now while the tailor incessantly tried on different fabrics on him.

“Coral?” said Sehun’s mother.

“I am not so sure about coral,” added one of Sehun’s stepmother. The queen was not participating. Sehun suspected that she and the others were busy with politics. He was glad to be free of Daewon’s judgmental looks and remarks for the day, though.

“All right,” chimed the overenthusiastic outfitter as he picked out another roll of fabric from one of his three trunks. “What about violet pleated peplums?!”

“It would be easier to just get him a job at a circus,” commented Kai. “They give out tutus as uniforms.”

Yuri slapped him on the arm.

Sehun was tempted to hurl something in Kai’s way, though he thoroughly enjoyed Kai’s offhanded jokes. It made the fitting process a lot more entertaining, which would have otherwise been a torture.

The tailor pinned Kai with an annoyed glower. “It is called class and fashion, boy.”

“No, it’s called gawdy and tacky,” Kai replied.

“Perhaps we could make do without the… pleats and the peplums,” said Sehun’s mother. “And a colour that perhaps resonates with the Nairthan sigil?”

Kai looked bored all of a sudden.

“What do you think would look good on me?” Sehun asked, looking at Kai.

All heads turned to Kai then. Blinking, Kai cocked an eyebrow, mustering Sehun–who was covered in cloths and bejewelled sashes–from head to toe.

“You look good in blood red and deep green,” said Kai. “Your Grace. Nothing too extravagant. I think… your sharp features should be complemented with simple designs. Your skin, as milk-white as it is, should not be washed out by light hues. Beige, white, faint yellow. But I know I’m no expert in fashion, though.”

Sehun looked to his mother and stepmothers, who were nodding their heads considerately.

“I do like that idea,” said one of his stepmothers.

“Find him something in deep red or green, will you?” Sehun’s mother told the royal tailor, who did not seem very happy with the suggestion. But he obliged, anyways.

Kai rose from his seat, rubbing his chin, and took one last look at Sehun before he wended his way out of the chamber after asking himself to be excused. He did not return after that.

* * *

“Sehun!” Areum cried as she burst into his room later that afternoon.

Sehun sighed, putting the book he was reading down, and sat up straighter on his bed. “What is it, Sister?” he asked, realizing that he could not avoid her or her questions forever.

“Where were you last night?” she asked. “You left the banquet so early.”

“I told you, I was tired. So, I went to bed.”

Areum plumped on the bed and scowled at him. “Oh, please,” she scoffed. “You are as transparent as glass. I’ve known you for ages, I know when you are fibbing.”

Sehun heaved a heavy breath. “Fine,” he said. “What do you want to know?”

“Are you staying away from Kai?”

“No.”

“What do you mean no?! Have you been talking to him?”

“Yes.”

“Why? Didn’t I tell you that you should stay away from him?”

“What if I don’t want to?” said Sehun, huffing exasperatedly.

Areum paused, her scowl faltering into a worried frown. “Brother, I do not mean to be a thorn on your side, but this is… dangerous.”

Sehun’s shoulders loosened then. “I know,” he let out, mirroring his sister’s frown. “I… know. Which is why I don’t know what I should do.”

His sister reached out and took hold of his hand. “You… like him, don’t you?”

Sehun was silent for a length, gaze lowered. He eventually nodded his head. “I do,” he muttered. “And it’s more than just an infatuation, Areum. This isn’t just a fling. I don’t think that’s all that it is. My heart feels so… heavy, like I can hardly bear it. I constantly think of him. I am sad, but at the same time, I have never been happier.”

His sister looked at him sympathetically. “And what about him? Do you think he likes you… like how you like him?”

Sehun curled his lower lip between his teeth and nodded his head coyly. “I think so,” he said. “He… kissed me.”

“What?! When?!”

“Last night.”

“Oh, God.” Areum rose from the bed and started pacing the room nervously. “This is bad. This is so very bad.”

Sehun could not disagree with her.

“You are not thinking of stopping the wedding, are you?” she asked.

Sehun shook his head. “No,” he said. “And you cannot tell anyone either. I don’t want to put Kai in a danger like that. He would be shunned and punished.”

“Well, he should have thought about that, too!”

“Areum, I’m serious. You promised.”

His sister groaned. “I know, I know. I won’t tell anyone. So, what? You are just going to sneak around the palace, kissing this boy while you are engaged to another man?”

“Is that… so terrible?” asked Sehun sadly. “I have never felt this way for anyone. I want to stop, but I just… can’t. I like him, Areum. He… gets me. Like no one ever has. He understands me. He defends me. He notices every little thing that I do.”

“He is still practically a stranger,” his sister told him. “You are getting too involved already. What if he turns out to be a murderer? Or worse, a theatre fan?!”

“I would like to find out,” Sehun said. “I want to get to know him. I want to… be a part of his life.”

“You are getting married in less than a fortnight, Sehun. Wake the hell up. You are leaving for Morridh. And he is leaving for Agaar right after your engagement party.”

That was a knife to the heart. Sehun fell silent as his heart sank. She was right. It was all happening too fast.

“Sehun,” she breathed out. “You ought to be careful. You have to make up your mind. I hope you don’t do something stupid like eloping.”

“I would never dishonour our family like that,” said Sehun.

His sister did not look convinced as she continued to stare at him painstakingly. Letting out a heavy sigh at length, she left him be.

Sehun glanced out the balcony and frowned at the rapidly sinking sun in the horizon. Midnight could not come any faster.


	7. Chapter 7

Sinking into the tub of water, Kai leaned against the back of the tub and raised his arms to the tub’s rim. He had spent all evening in the training arena, practising his swordplay. He exhaled a heavy breath as he tilted his head back against the tub. The warm water soothed the knots in his sore back and shoulders.

He had overdone it in the training arena, but he had needed the distraction. Now that the sun had set and the evening had made way for the night, he decided to relax for a while before heading for the stables at midnight.

Sehun’s invitation earlier today in the broom closet had surprised Kai. Not because he did not think that Sehun was capable of initiating such a secret rendezvous, but because Kai had been delighted by the proposition.

He cupped some water in his hands and wetted his hair, running his fingers through it. He sighed, realizing once more that he was looking forward to the tryst with Sehun tonight. It was not the first time Kai would be sneaking out for a romantic rendezvous. But he supposed it was Sehun’s first. Even then, the boy had mustered the courage to do such a thing. To do something his family would not approve of. The outlook seemed pretty favourable for Kai right now.

But it was not all related to his plot for vengeance. He realized that earlier during the fitting. He was having a good time, enjoying the light-hearted entertainment before him. He had fun teasing Sehun, who indulged his playful chaffing. And most of all, he had completely forgotten about his thirst for revenge in that moment.

After exhausting a few hours in the training arena, he regained his focus once more. He recalled why he was here. He reminded himself that he was in the midst of the people his father’s murderer cared about the most.

An eye for an eye, right?

There was no better way to hurt Egeryn than to hurt the person he cared about the most.

Climbing out of the tub after washing the lye soapsuds from his body and hair, he dried himself before pulling on one of the three pairs of trousers he had brought with him and a black shirt. He was essentially a patient man, but he most certainly did not have the patience to do menial tasks, like tying laces.

So, he left the top of his shirt unlaced as he stood before the mirror. Running his hairs through his damp hair, he quickly neatened it before taking a seat on the bed to pull his boots on.

He wondered what Sehun’s intentions were, asking him to rendezvous with him at the stables after everyone was asleep. In Kai’s experience, such trysts were often set up for romantic escapades and erotic mischief. He doubted that was what Sehun was after.

The boy had never even been kissed before. Kai knew that he was speaking the truth because he had never kissed a pair of lips as inexperienced as Sehun’s. They had trembled and faltered in shock and disbelief. The second time they kissed in the broom closet, however, they were a little more confident. Kai was delightfully surprised when Sehun kissed him first in the closet. It was nothing more than an impulsive peck on the lips, but it surprised Kai nonetheless.

There was nothing exceptional about the kisses he had shared with Sehun so far, yet they had still managed to leave a mark. Kai was not sure what was it about kissing Sehun that left him so dumbfounded.

He was not sure how calculated the first kiss had been. He had been a little befuddled from all the ale he had had at the local tavern, but he was not drunk enough to risk it all and kiss the boy so impetuously. All that he knew was that it had been his window to make a move. But for what? To progress with his schemes or simply because… he wanted to in that moment?

With a heavy sigh, he rose from the bed and tucked his shirt into the trousers before heading out of the room. There was not a single soul in sight apart from the yawning guards, who paid him no heed as they slacked off in the hallways.

Kai wondered if Sehun would show up, or if the boy would chicken out. Part of the reason why Kai wanted to go to the stables was to find out if Sehun would actually show up.

His eyes fell a little heavy as he made his way out into the courtyard. He liked that the Nairthan night air was subtly cold, though it retained some of the aridness of the day. He paused momentarily in his tracks when he spied a couple of servants in the corridor, tangled in each other’s arms, their mouths devouring one another. They were too occupied to notice his presence. Smiling and scoffing to himself, Kai walked away, leaving the servants be.

It did not take him all that long to find the stables. He had borrowed a horse from there earlier to day to make his trip to the city. It was quieter in the night, though. There was no sight of the grooms, either.

There was a slit in the doors of the stables, though. Kai slowly pushed them open when he reached them and stepped in. Only a couple of oil lamps were lit, not allowing much light inside the stables.

He found Sehun easily, however. The boy rose from where he was squatting petting a sleeping horse in its stall. Standing up, he turned to Kai and faced him with a nervous expression, his parted lips quivering as his breathing shallowed.

“Hi,” he said.

Kai closed the stables doors behind him and smirked at the other prince. “Hey,” he said, walking over to Sehun. He glanced at the horse Sehun was busy with before Kai walked in. “Your favourite?”

Sehun shook his head. “They are all my favourite,” he said, blushing. “I love horses and everything about them.”

“Did you know that the best horse breeds come from Samor?”

“Of course,” said Sehun, ambling over to another stall. “Look.” He pointed excitedly to a filly that was curled up next to a horse. “She’s so small right now, but she’ll grow up. She was born to a Samorian stallion. One of the best horse breeds. Samorian horse breeders feed their horses first-rate alfalfa. The average lifespan of a Samorian horse is twenty-eight years, and they can run about fifty-five miles per hour, each standing up to six feet tall.”

Kai blinked at him. Even he did not know those details about Samorian horses. “Do you… know a lot about horses?”

Sehun licked his smiling lips, looking to the filly once more lovingly. “Not more than usual.”

Kai snorted. “You can stop being modest. You know more than my scholars at the college.”

Sehun turned red at the compliment. “You are too kind to say so.”

Kai sighed. “I don’t know why you do not take pride in your wisdom, though. It is not every day that one would get to meet someone as young as you, who knows so much about… everything in so many fields.”

Sehun looked away from Kai. “If I’m not careful, it can come off as prideful and boastful, though.”

“So what? You work hard. It’s not wrong to boast about it once in a while. What’s important is that… you be you and remain true to yourself.”

Sehun raised his head and met Kai’s gaze then. “That… might be the kindest thing anyone has ever said to me.”

Kai simpered. “I doubt it,” he said. “I’ve seen the way you are babied by your family.”

Sehun walked over to a stack of hay and sat down on it before patting the space next to him, beckoning Kai to take his seat. Kai indulged him and sat down beside him.

Fiddling with the straws, Sehun said, “Do you think I am coddled by them?”

Kai shrugged. “Yes,” he said. “But it is not necessarily a bad thing. You have a loving family. That is something to be happy about indeed.”

“Sometimes,” Sehun muttered. “I wish that… we weren’t all so close. It definitely puts some pressure on us. To be so perfect all the time. To never disappoint each other. To rely on each other to the point that it’s a duty to be a part of this family.”

Kai stared at him. He had never thought of it that way. But he could now see that there were resentments at play here. Sehun was not entirely happy with the way his family put such responsibilities on his shoulders.

“What about your family?” asked Sehun at length.

Kai realized what was happening then. Sehun had not called him down to the stables in the dead of the night to hook up with him. He simply wanted to talk and get to know each other better.

Kai rested his head back against the wooden wall of the stables and exhaled heavily. “There isn’t much to say about my family. It’s nowhere near as big as yours. And I barely see any of them since I went to college.”

Sehun was looking at him, waiting for Kai to elaborate.

Kai scratched the back of his head. “It’s just me and my mother,” he said. “I have a pretty close uncle. And there’s his family. Wow… My cousin must be like seven or eight years old now.” He had not thought about Sage in a long time. “I haven’t seen any of them in a while.”

“That’s dreadful.” Sehun frowned.

“Not really,” said Kai. “Like I said. We’re not like you and your family. It is your way that seems unusual to me, actually.”

“I suppose you’re right,” said Sehun. “But do you ever wish that you… had a closer family?”

Kai bit his lip and nodded. “I miss my father. Somehow, I feel like… he was the only one who ever really understood me. I wanted to make him proud. I kept bettering myself so that he would be proud of me. So that I can become the person he wanted me to be.”

Sehun reached out and wrapped his hand around Kai’s. He looked genuinely sympathetic. “I’m so sorry about your father,” he said in a low voice. “We don’t have to talk about him, but if you ever want to, I’m here to listen.”

Kai stared into Sehun’s eyes for a moment, wondering why would Sehun even want to listen. If it were him, he would not be bothered at all. He would not want to listen to other people’s grievances, much less those of the people he had known for a week.

But he supposed one of Sehun’s charms was that he was kind and sincere in everything he did. He went out of his way to get Yuri that paint set. He was even wearing the anklet Kai had given him in spite of it being nowhere near as valuable as the jewellery he must own.

Kai intertwined their fingers together, raising his other hand to cup Sehun’s face. Leaning his head forward, he brushed his lips upon Sehun’s and watched the other boy clench his eyes tightly.

They spent a good portion of the next one hour in the stables just kissing. There were times when Sehun nervously reached up for Kai’s chest and walked his hand down the bare sternum before entangling his fingers in the loose laces of Kai’s shirt. He shivered every time Kai’s hands wandered a little too far, prompting Kai to retrieve them. Kai could not tell if Sehun enjoyed the touch or repulsed it. Either way, he decided not to overstep and cause the boy any discomfort.

It was all good so far. Sehun was still experimenting with the extents of the kissing. When he was ready, he parted his lips to allow Kai’s tongue access. And as it slid into his mouth and brushed against his tongue, a small moan broke from his throat. Kai was overcome by the sudden urge to kiss that prominent protrusion in his throat. To lick it, suck it, make a whole scene out of it. Sehun constantly swallowing did not make it any easier for Kai to refrain himself.

He only broke the kiss and pulled back to let Sehun come up for some air when the boy’s lungs were exhausted. His lips were red and swollen, and Kai suspected that his own were the same, too.

“Am I… a bad kisser?” Sehun asked, still panting for breath.

Kai chuckled, and Sehun frowned. “No, not all,” Kai said quickly, noticing the distress in Sehun’s face. “You are a fast learner. Even when it comes to kissing.”

Sehun lowered his gaze, his cheeks florid. “Practice makes perfect,” he muttered.

“It indeed does,” Kai conceded, lifting Sehun’s head up by the chin. They kissed some more, and Kai eventually coaxed Sehun to recline on the hay without disconnecting their mouths.

As they lay on the pile of straws, Sehun lazily kissed Kai back, his fingers playing with the strands of Kai’s hair at the back of his head. He moaned softly when Kai caught Sehun’s lower lip between his teeth and tugged at it gently.

Seized in the moment, Kai slipped a hand into Sehun’s tunic and stroked a side of his waist, his taut, smooth skin. Kai did not realize what he was doing until Sehun caught his arm and halted him.

Bringing his head up, he blinked at Sehun, who was looking at him embarrassedly.

“Not… yet,” he let out in a shaky breath. Kai withdrew his hand from Sehun’s tunic and knelt up, swallowing hard.

“I’m sorry,” he said.

Sitting up, Sehun licked his throbbing lips. “No, don’t apologize,” he murmured. “I don’t think… I’m ready for… more.”

Kai slumped back on the hay and scrubbed his face with his palms. “Of course,” he said. “I should not have let myself lose control.”

“Nothing happened,” Sehun said quickly, as though he were worried that he might have upset Kai. “It’s all right. You didn’t… do anything.”

Kai looked away for a moment. “Then… why?”

Sehun fell silent, though the guilty look on his face gave away his concern.

“I understand,” Kai said. “You are betrothed to someone else.”

He pushed himself up to his feet and dusted the straws sticking to his clothes. “Kai,” Sehun called, eyebrows furrowed worriedly. “I…”

“It’s good that you know where to draw the line, Your Grace,” Kai said, his tone thick with ridicule. “After all, you will be another man’s pretty soon.”

“It isn’t like that,” Sehun said, standing up. “I… want… you.”

“In what way?” Kai asked bluntly. “Just to kiss in broom closets and stables?”

“No,” said Sehun anxiously. “That is not what I mean.”

“Then what _is_ it that you mean?”

Sehun rubbed an elbow with a hand, casting his eyes to the ground. “Kai, I… can’t.”

“You can’t what?”

“Do anything about this marriage,” he said. “I can’t do anything.”

“Bullshit,” spat Kai. Sehun winced.

“If my father found out–”

“I do not care about what your father would do if he found out,” said Kai, cutting Sehun off. “I want to know what you want plan to do.”

“I…” Sehun began to say, his eyes glassy with tears. “I don’t know.”

“Of course, you do,” said Kai. “I can’t go on with this.”

“Kai,” Sehun rasped, grabbing hold of Kai’s arm. “Don’t go… Please.”

With a heavy breath, Kai gently pulled his arm out of Sehun’s grip and closed the distance between them to take Sehun’s face in his hands.

“Are you going to get married to someone you do not like just to please your family?” asked Kai, his gaze boring into Sehun’s glistening eyes.

“What will you… have me do?” It was as though Sehun needed to hear it from Kai. From anyone, really. That it was okay to be selfish in this situation. That it was okay to choose his own happiness for once.

But Kai was not going to make it that easy for him. He wanted Sehun to fight for this. He wanted the boy to break his father’s spirit in the worst ways possible. He wanted Sehun to put the son of the man whom he murdered out of spite before his own father. He wanted Sehun to dishonour his father and family. An eye for an eye.

“I want you to decide for yourself,” he said, thumbs pressed against the apples of Sehun’s cheeks. He then leaned in to brush a kiss on a corner of the boy’s lips before he backed away.

“Kai,” Sehun called as Kai started for the doors. Stopping, Kai glanced back at him. “You are not… teasing me, are you? All of this… Is it… real? For you?”

Kai scoffed. “That’s for you to find out, isn’t it?”

With that, he strode out of the stables, leaving Sehun to lose his sleep over the ultimatum he had just given him.

* * *

Kai did not talk to him all morning. He spared Sehun a look when the prince entered the feast hall for breakfast, but otherwise, he kept his eyes to himself. Sehun, on the other hand, had not been able to look away from Kai.

He had beaten himself up all night for having stopped Kai last night when they were being intimate at the stables. And even worse, he hated himself for the excuses he had given Kai for not wanting to go any further. It must have really seemed like he was taking advantage of Kai while it was only convenient for him.

Of course, it was the truth. Sehun had developed serious feelings for the boy over the past few days. Whether it was infatuation or something more, he wanted to see how it would pan out. Where would his attraction take him? Like Kai had said last night, it was all for Sehun to find out, and that was half the appeal of the whole situation.

After breakfast, he tried to catch Kai outside the feast hall. “Kai,” he called, hurrying after the boy.

Kai came to a halt and faced him with a passive expression. It was unreadable. Sehun could not tell if Kai was done with him, or if he were still mad at him.

“Sehun, darling,” he heard his mother call behind him. Sehun turned around with a frown.

“Yes, Mother?”

“Come along now,” she said. “We must see to the preparations for the party tomorrow.”

“Yes, Mother.”

As soon as she turned around to walk away, Sehun looked at Kai.

Sighing heavily, Kai took a gentle hold of Sehun’s chin and bowed his head a little to give Sehun’s lips a brief, chaste kiss before he pulled away and turned on his heel.

Sehun stood still as Kai strode away. He licked his lips that had just met Kai’s. There was something exhilarating about stolen kisses. He hoped to see Kai again sometime during the day.

But it seemed as though Kai had nothing more to say to him until Sehun had made a decision.

* * *

“Gooseberry cake,” said Sehun’s mother. “Cinnamon tea. We’re going to have butter, garlic-roasted pheasant for dinner.”

Sehun looked bored, listening to his mother who was reciting the list of food items to be prepared by the cooks to the head cook.

“Oh,” she said. “Mulberry pie. That’s Sehun’s favourite. We must have that.”

Sehun had not seen much of his father or Daewon and his family today either. They were occupied with welcoming the guests who had come a day early for the engagement party. The bailey was already thronging with carriages. Sehun did not wish to run into any of the guests before the party. He was in no mood for the cordialities. In fact, the only person he did want to see right now was Kai, who ironically was not all that excited to see him.

He was right to be mad, though. Sehun was acting cowardly. He was refusing to rifle through his thoughts and heart to find the courage to find out what it was that he wanted, and what he had to do to obtain it.

It almost felt as though he were delaying the inevitable, making it all so much worse.

Once the head cook had received his instructions, he headed out of the sunroom. Sehun had yet to try on the outfit the royal tailor had sent him, packaged beautifully. There were still jewellery and other accessories that he needed to pick out. His stepmothers were making a bigger fuss over the party than they needed to.

Around midday, his head began to ache a little. He asked to be excused for a rest.

“I will make sure the servants draw you a bath with goat’s milk tonight,” his mother said as Sehun started for his room.

He stopped when he found Prince Jaehyun seated on the stairs, playing a hand-clapping game with Yara.

“Yara?” called Sehun.

“Brother!” she yipped as excitedly as ever. “We are just playing ‘A Sailor Went to the Sea’.”

“I suck at it, though,” said Jaehyun.

“You’re all right,” giggled Yara.

“Run along now,” Sehun told her. “Your governess must be looking for you.”

Yara pouted, but she did not argue as she skipped away.

Jaehyun smiled up at Sehun then, leaning back against the staircase. “You look tired.”

“Ditto,” said Sehun.

Jaehyun laughed. “My brother is the fussiest little piece of shit I’ve ever known. Who knew getting married would make him extra insufferable?” he scoffed.

Sehun took his seat next to his soon-to-be brother-in-law. “He doesn’t like me very much, does he?”

Jaehyun was silent for a moment. Then with a light-hearted grin, he said, “He doesn’t like anybody very much.”

Sehun smiled sadly. That was an answer, he supposed.

“Hey,” said Jaehyun, straightening up. “I can’t… say that he has a lot of redeeming qualities, but he isn’t a bad man. In his heart, there is good. He just… is an ass sometimes. Give him time. He will come around.”

“He might even treat me as a friend?”

Jaehyun sighed. “All right,” he muttered. “Just between us.”

Sehun blinked.

“I don’t think you are a good match,” he said. Sehun appreciated Jaehyun’s candour. It was also nice to see that arrogance and rudeness were not genetic in the Morridhian royal family. “He is very ambitious. He is a workaholic. He cares about his duties more than anything. Men like him… should never have a family of their own. And it isn’t fair for me to plead his case to you because I know that he would not treat you right.”

Sehun hung his head. “Why are you… telling me this?”

“Because I want you to have all the information going in. I… pity you, Sehun.” Jaehyun rubbed his forehead. “I know that you are not helpless, and my brother is not inherently a terrible person. But I can tell that you are… looking for something that he is not. I just want you to… be prepared for what’s to come.”

Sehun was momentarily lost in his own thoughts for a length thereafter. Daewon might not be a bad person, of course not. But he was not the right fit for Sehun. In the long run, this marriage would take a toll on them both.

Sehun had agreed to this marriage before he realized that he did not want to be practical all the time. He had always done what he was told to do, but in just one week’s time, his world was flipped upside down. He suddenly felt like doing all the wrong things that his family, especially his father would disapprove of. It would kill a part of him, without a doubt. He might even be guilt-stricken about letting his family down for the rest of his life. But he would regret it more if he let himself fall into this ditch in spite of all the forewarnings that advised him against it. It was as though the universe were telling him from left and right that this was a bad idea.

Even after realizing all that, he could not muster the courage to do what needed to be done.

“I will… manage,” he told Jaehyun and rose from his seat.

Jaehyun smiled and nodded his head curtly. “Forgive me for saying that I pity you,” he said. “It is just something I have been thinking about. Daewon is my brother and everything. But I see the sort of environment you grew up in and I… feel like my whole family is cheating, tricking you into a false sense of security. My family is fucked up. There is nothing that they would not do to achieve their end goals. It is all that everyone can see. We’re… blinded by our duties. There is no room for sentiments or affection. Which is why they shipped me off to a boarding school when I was ten years old.”

Sehun had had a very sheltered life. He might have learned a lot about a lot of things, but little did he know about the things that were important. He met many people from so many places, but rarely did he get to know any of them personally. Learning about Kai’s family and Jaehyun’s, Sehun wondered if dysfunctional families were the norm, and that his ‘perfect’ family was out of the common.

“I would not… fit in your family,” Sehun admitted at length.

Jaehyun stood up and took hold of Sehun’s shoulders. “You are more educated than any one of us, Prince Sehun,” he said. “Certainly more beautiful. And on top of it all, you are a bearer. You are as perfect as a person could get. But yes, you are not a good fit for this family. You deserve better. But sometimes, the oddest people come together to make the best families, don’t they?”

He grinned and withdrew his hands.

“I would be honoured to have you in my family,” Jaehyun said. “But I can assure you that you and I will always be the odd beans out. And they would not miss a chance to point that out. If you can somehow find a way to live with it, it would not be so bad.”

_What’s important is that you be you and remain true to yourself…_

Kai’s words from the previous night rang in Sehun’s ears. He would never be able to be himself with Daewon. But with Kai...

“I sort of want to head back to Agaar with my friends the day after the engagement party,” said Jaehyun, and Sehun felt his heart sink. “I think I have had enough of my brother being a thorn in my side to last me a lifetime.”

“Yuri and… Kai are leaving the day after tomorrow?” asked Sehun.

“Yes,” said Jaehyun. “I will be back in Agaar just in time for the finals. They would need to head back to prepare.”

“Oh.”

Later that evening, Sehun told Taeyong who came up to summon him down for dinner that his headache had not subdued and that he would prefer to have his meal in his room. He told Taeyong to send his regrets to his family and Daewon’s for not being able to join them for dinner.

His father sent up a huge tray of Sehun’s favourite foods and sweetmeats to make him feel better along with Taeyong to nurse Sehun’s headache.

“Something on your mind, Your Highness?” Taeyong asked while he was rubbing Sehun’s feet, in spite of Sehun telling him not to.

Sehun stayed quiet, back leaned against the headboard.

“You look upset,” said the servant boy. Taeyong never asked such questions. It was not that he did not care, but he was afraid of overstepping his boundaries. But Sehun must have looked too discomposed. “Are you nervous about the wedding, Your Highness?”

Sehun sighed. “Yes,” he admitted. “Will you keep a secret?”

Taeyong nodded, digging his fingers into the sole of Sehun’s foot. “Of course, My Prince.”

“I… am not sure if I want to go through with this wedding.”

Taeyong did not look surprised. “It is normal to get wedding jitters, Your Highness. But usually, it passes.”

“It’s not… jitters,” Sehun muttered. “I don’t think… Prince Daewon is the one for me.”

“Isn’t that the whole point of a marriage of convenience?” he asked, blinking. “It is a marriage between two countries.”

Sehun pulled his feet away from Taeyong and hugged his legs to his chest, frowning deeply. “You are not helping.”

Taeyong shifted his weight on the mattress and faced Sehun. “You could… also marry Prince Jaehyun if you don’t like Prince Daewon. Although I think Prince Jaehyun is a pervert.”

Sehun’s eyes widened. “He is?”

Taeyong gnawed at his lower lip for a moment. “He… propositioned me at the banquet the other night.”

“What?!”

“He was quite drunk from the wine, I think,” he said. His face was flushed red, and he had never looked so bashful. “He said that… he found me beautiful, and then he tried to hold… me.”

“Where?”

“Everywhere. In front of everyone.”

“Wow. How did I miss that…” Sehun mused. “Did you refuse?”

“Of course, I refused,” Taeyong muttered. “He is a prince. I’m a servant. I’m just a commoner. If I’m tainted, who would want me after? Not Prince Jaehyun, certainly.”

Sehun rubbed his neck. “I do not think Prince Jaehyun would want to take advantage of you. Take it as a compliment, Taeyong. Jaehyun is no slouch himself. He is absolutely handsome, and I heard he is one of the best marksmen at his college.”

“I know, Your Highness,” Taeyong let out. “You’re right. It is a compliment.”

Sehun smiled. “Has Prince Jaehyun spoken to you since?”

“I have been actively avoiding him.” Taeyong rose from the bed. “I am so embarrassed. And I’m sure he is, too.”

“Why? You have every right to refuse his proposition.”

“I just… I don’t know. No one has ever told me that I’m beautiful. Let alone a prince.”

“Do you… find _him_ attractive?”

Taeyong did not answer. He picked up Sehun’s shoes and put them aside. Then grabbing the food tray, he bowed his head. “I will let you rest then, Your Highness.”

With that, he hurried out of the room before Sehun could corner him with more awkward questions.

* * *

As the night wore on, Sehun lay awake in his bed, tossing and turning, unable to fall asleep. Kai would leave soon. Right after the engagement party. He might never even return to Nairth. And Sehun would leave for Morridh once the wedding was over.

He was not sure why he was crying into his pillow, but he decided to blame it on the emotional stress that had been weighing him down lately.

He knew two things for certain now. One, he did not want to be married to Daewon. Two, he had fallen for Kai.

He knew what he should do now, but he was not sure that he had the courage to do it.

Sitting up, he wiped the tears from his cheeks and sniffled, glancing to the jacket that was resting on the nearby chaise lounge.

He climbed out of the bed and walked over to it to pick the jacket up. He pressed a side of his face to the jacket and closed his eyes for a moment.

Then he wended his way out of the room and started for Kai’s. Though he did not want to give the jacket back, he now had an excuse for wandering up to Kai’s room at this hour of the night.

He knew that Kai would have already gone to sleep when he arrived at his room and gave the door a couple of quiet knocks.

It took Kai a moment to answer the door, and when he did, he was wearing nothing but a pair of loose nightwear bottoms. His hair was mussed, and his eyes were puffy, as though he had just roused from an interrupted slumber.

He blinked and stared at Sehun in disbelief, holding the door open. He did not look upset. Just very surprised. “Do you,” he began to ask. “wear all that to bed?”

Sehun glanced down at his own embroidered nightshirt and long-legged bottoms that were embellished with frilly sleeves. “Y-Yes?” he muttered.

Kai raised an arm to the doorframe and smirked. God, he was so attractive. Especially with his messy bed hair. The absence of a shirt did not hurt one bit. Sehun stared at Kai’s shirtless body unabashedly. It was lean and sinewy, but well-muscled.

“Do… you always wear so little to bed?” Sehun asked, just to give as good as he got.

Kai scoffed. “I usually don’t wear anything.”

Sehun swallowed, regretting his question instantly. “I… came to give you this. You left it in the corridor… the other night.”

He held out the jacket. Kai did not take it as he pinned Sehun with a cocked eyebrow. “You came here at this ungodly hour to… give me my jacket back?”

Sehun lowered his arms.

Kai let out a breathy chuckle and pulled the door open. “Do you want to come in?”

Sehun hesitated for a beat, but he eventually did enter, brushing past Kai, who shut the door and locked it behind him.


	8. Chapter 8

“Do you want to take a seat, Your Highness?” Kai asked with a hint of mockery in his tone. Sehun hugged the jacket in his arms and made his way to the foot of the bed where he hesitantly took a shy seat on the edge of it.

Kai fixed him with a curious look, his hands on his hips. Sehun licked his lips and swallowed hard, dropping his gaze low. He did not want to seem like a debauchee, but God, he wanted to leer more at Kai’s body. He wanted to take notes, just like he did when he diligently did a research on art or horses. He wanted to obsessively remember everything about it. But he was embarrassed. He was usually a practical person, but he was willing to consider witchcraft if it would explain his carnal, mind-boggling attraction towards this boy. Part of Sehun’s desperation might be ascribed to his lack of experience in this arena. He hungered to gain knowledge. He always had. But now, he was lusting after a different kind of knowledge. He wanted to know just how taut the muscles of Kai’s body are. He wanted to know what sort of things excited Kai. He wanted to know how Kai’s bare skin would feel against his own.

Perched on the bed, Sehun anxiously tapped his feet on the floor, his head still hung low.

Kai exhaled a loud sigh and walked over to the nightstand to fill a cup of water before draining it. Then picking up his shirt from where it was discarded on the sideboard, he pulled it on, though he left it unlaced.

He then came to plump on the bed next to Sehun, maintaining a safe distance between them. “Shouldn’t you be getting your rest for tomorrow?” he asked.

Sehun brought his head up and frowned at the other boy. “You are upset with me,” he pointed out.

Kai shrugged. “I am nobody to upset with you,” he said. “You have your responsibilities. It is not your fault.”

“So…” Sehun let out, placing the jacket on the bed before he shifted his weight on the mattress to face Kai. “Are you saying that… you don’t… want me?”

Kai laughed, but it sounded humourless. “No man in his right mind would not want _you_.”

Sehun could not hide the flush that reddened his face then. “I’ve never… felt this way before,” he said, looking down.

Kai was silent for a moment. Then he reached out and took Sehun’s hand in his own. “What way?” he asked in a whisper.

Sehun chewed on his lower lip, begging his heart to stop knocking against his ribs as though it wanted to jump out of his chest. “What I… feel for you,” he muttered.

He felt Kai’s fingers tighten around his. “And what is that you feel for me?” asked Kai.

Sehun groaned softly. “I don’t know,” he mumbled. “Don’t… make me say it. I don’t know… _how_ to say it.”

“Then you don’t have to say it,” said Kai. “You are one of the cleverest people I’ve ever come across. And if words managed to fail even you…”

“That’s the thing,” whispered Sehun. “All of this is… very new and alien to me. Perhaps with time, I would be able to understand it.”

“But time is the one thing you do not have right now,” said Kai.

Sehun nodded, rubbing his thumb against Kai’s. “Are you really leaving the day after the engagement party?”

Kai withdrew his hand from Sehun’s and slouched forward, shoulders slumped tiredly. “Yes,” he said. “I do not want to overstay my welcome. Or you won’t have me back.” He smirked faintly.

Sehun remained mum for a stretch, wanting to hold Kai’s hand again. But he did not. “I wish… we had met sooner,” he said, breaking the silence at length.

“It would not have changed anything,” said Kai. Sehun blinked at him. “You still would not have followed your heart. You would not have let down your family.”

“That’s not–”

“I know how important your family is to you, Sehun.” He rose from the bed and started for the door. “And it would be unreasonable for me to expect anything from you. I am practically still a stranger. But I would have fought for you, Sehun. If only you would let me. If only you… gave me a nod of your head. That is all it takes.”

Sehun stood up. “You… called me by my name,” he said.

Kai paused, staring at Sehun, as though he were only now realizing that. Rubbing the back of his neck, he took a breath. “Perhaps this is for the best,” he said. “Who knows if… things would even work out between us.”

He was smiling, but there was no life in his smile. Sehun’s frown deepened. “But don’t we deserve a chance to find out?” he asked Kai.

Opening the door again, Kai said, “It’s all in your hands now, isn’t it? I… I just want to say that… this has been one of the best weeks of my life. I don’t have many of those, but this was indeed special to me. I have you to thank for that.”

Oh, if only Sehun could tell Kai how special the past few days had been for him. If only Kai knew the whirlpool of excitement, terror, passion and fear Sehun had been in.

Sehun picked up the jacket again and walked over to Kai. His eyes were stinging with fresh tears. He tried to blink them away. This could not be the end for them, could it?

But like Kai had just said, it was all in Sehun’s hands.

Kai shook his head in refusal when Sehun held the jacket out. “Why don’t you hold onto it,” said Kai. “It’ll be something to remember me by.”

Sehun felt a sob claw its way up in his throat. He wanted Kai to kiss him. But unfortunately, he did not have the courage to even ask for one last kiss.

“Will I… really never see you again once you leave?” Sehun asked, and as soon as he had asked it, he felt like it was wrong to ask such a thing. He would be married to Daewon. It would be wrong to let his heart yearn for someone else, wouldn’t it? And Kai certainly did not deserve to be Sehun’s dirty little secret.

“Perhaps our paths will cross once more, Prince Sehun,” said Kai. For some reason, Sehun did not see any dejection in Kai’s eyes. In fact, they were more apathetic than ever. Was it confidence? “You will never know what fate has in store for us.”

With the jacket in his hands, Sehun walked out of the room and glanced back at Kai forlornly. When he returned to his own room that night, he was unable to rest his eyes or his thundering heart. He curled up in his bed and thought of countless scenarios of how his future might be if he took a different path than the one his father had set up for him. All of them involved letting his father down and humiliating his family. But in the long run, his happiness was guaranteed. He saw himself being happy with Kai. It would be an adventure. With Daewon, Sehun saw himself as a caged bird. His duty would be to be a trophy on Daewon’s shelves. Even if it did not work with Kai, Sehun would have been satisfied for having found out what they could have been. He would be sated.

It looked like he had a decision to make. Fast.

* * *

He roused to a ruckus in his room. The servants, his sisters and his mother were gathered around him like crows, cawing at him to wake up. He was quickly ushered into the bathing chamber where the servants scrubbed him clean like they were trying to take the skin off his flesh. He was then dressed and dolled up in the clothes the royal tailor had tailored for him. The shirt was a deep shade of red while the overcoat was mostly dark green, its lapels matching the red shirt. The buttons were gold, and so were the laces.

Sehun stood still while all the primping was done for him.

“Darling,” his mother said. “Why aren’t you smiling?”

Sehun looked at her tiredly. “I didn’t sleep so well last night,” he said. It was not a lie. He only fell asleep as an hour before sunup.

“I wonder what you were up to last night,” said Areum with a knowing look. Sehun would have stuck his tongue out at her, but he could not find the energy.

“Put on more gold dust on his cheeks,” his mother ordered the servants. Sehun huffed exasperatedly as they brushed more of the powder on his cheekbones. “Come on down when you are ready. I must join the others to welcome the guests now.”

She gave Sehun’s coat a tug to neaten it before she hurried out of the room.

Sighing heavily, Sehun sat down on the chaise lounge and told the servants to leave him be for a while.

His sister shook her head as she leaned against the sideboard, staring at him. “You do not want to do this, do you?” she asked.

“Gee, really? What gave it away?” Sehun grumbled mockingly. He was exhausted, upset, sleepless and just downright miserable.

Areum walked over to him and set herself down beside him. “Everybody is so happy for you, Sehun,” she said.

“That does not make me feel any better,” Sehun said. “I know that everybody is happy for me. Which is why I don’t want to let anyone down.”

“No, that is not what I mean,” his sister said, taking his hand into hers. “Everyone is so happy because they think… you are happy. What do you think Father would do if he knew that this is the last thing you want? Do you think he would let any of this happen? Do you think he would just let you stay miserable?”

Sehun lowered his head. “No,” he let out. “But if he knew the reason is…”

“Kai?” asked his sister. “If it weren’t for him, would you be happy getting married to Prince Daewon now?”

Sehun shook his head. He supposed it was not all Kai’s doing. He was not the one to be blamed here. “Father wants this,” he said. “I cannot break his heart and humiliate him.”

“What are you talking about?” she said. “He is our _Father_. If it were for our happiness, he would do absolutely anything. You know that. He would not hold it against you for dishonouring him.” Sehun did know that. Unfortunately, his father believed that this marriage would make Sehun happy.

“But I do not want to do this to him,” said Sehun. “I am his child. I am supposed to uphold his honour, his dignity. I cannot be the one to disgrace him.”

Areum sighed. “I know I said that you shouldn’t do this, but I do not want to see you be so despondent. All your life, you were told that you were the bringer of luck to this family. I understand that you do not want to prove us wrong. But it pains me to see you like this.” She leaned in and brushed a kiss on his cheek before she rose to her feet. “Are you ready?”

Sighing, Sehun nodded and pushed himself up. His sister took his arm and led him out of the room.

* * *

“I expected more people,” remarked Yuri as he returned to Jaehyun and Kai with a plate full of mini rosemary tarts. Kai picked one up from his plate and popped it into his mouth.

“The wedding day would be a celebration like no other,” said Jaehyun.

“A celebration? How?” asked Yuri.

“The king supplies free clothes and wine to every house in the country every time one of his children gets hitched,” scoffed Jaehyun. “People apparently light bonfires in every city and feast and cavort around them all night until sunrise. I can only imagine the festivities when his favourite child gets married.”

“I bet Samorians don’t make such fuss,” said Yuri, looking to Kai.

“No, we do not,” said Kai. “Royal weddings are quite intimate and private in Samor. We do, however, hold a consummation ceremony.”

Yuri nodded. “Oh, yes. I have heard all about it.”

Jaehyun was smirking. “Does that mean we get to watch you boning your consort when you get married?”

“It is not like you haven’t seen me bone before,” snorted Kai.

“That’s true.”

Yuri grimaced and walked away. “Gross.”

Jaehyun knocked Kai’s shoulder with his own, jerking his chin toward the girl who was staring in their way. “I think my cousin Kiana has a thing for you,” muttered Jaehyun.

Kai smirked in her way. She blushed and smiled back before bashfully turning away. “Not my type,” he said dully, shrugging. He was not even sure what his type was. But it was certainly not desperate noblemen daughters seeking to pin down a husband.

The sudden gush of gasps and greetings as the hall doors opened made Kai turn his head around to look at Sehun, who sauntered into the hall. There was neither excitement nor joy on his face as he strode past the impeccably dressed crowd and joined his family at the table.

“Well, I should take my seat too,” said Jaehyun as he pulled away from Yuri and Kai and started for the table.

Sehun’s family had sent both Kai and Yuri perfectly tailored outfits to wear to the party this morning. Kai wondered if it were Sehun’s mother and stepmothers’ doing. He had decided to show his gratitude by wearing the outfit they had gotten for him to the party. They had picked out a yellow tunic and overcoat for Yuri and a deep shade of blue and black for Kai.

“More wine?” Taeyong asked as he walked over to Kai with a tray of filled winecups.

Picking one of them up, Kai took a sip and fixed the boy with a smile. “What was your name again?” he asked, even though he already knew who the boy was.

“Taeyong, My Lord,” he said.

“Not a lord,” Kai said. “Just call me Kai.”

The servant boy swallowed and lowered his gaze. “I… I shouldn’t,” he said.

“Why not?”

The boy did not answer. He looked unnerved. “Excuse me, My Lord.” He turned around, and Kai caught his arm to stop him.

“I said I’m not a lord,” Kai said, releasing Taeyong’s arm. He grabbed the tray then and handed it to another servant who ambled past him. “How long have you been working in this palace?”

Taeyong licked his lips. “I was born here,” he said. “My mother was a chambermaid.”

“Oh, so your whole family works here?” Kai cocked his brow.

“No, my mother… is dead,” he muttered. “I never knew any other family.”

Kai sighed. “Fucked up families, huh.” He turned around to glance at the table where the two royal families were seated at. Sehun was disinterestedly entertaining the guests who walked up to him and Daewon to offer them their gifts and well wishes.

He looked beautiful in red and green, Kai thought. It was then when he realized that Sehun had gone with the colours Kai had suggested for him after all.

Sehun’s gaze eventually found him in the crowd, and he instantly lit up like the stars in maytime. Kai stared back at the prince with the same intensity in his own gaze. Sehun parted his lips and exhaled heavily before he was forced to avert his attention to another well-wisher.

Jaehyun was glaring in Kai’s way. Kai sniggered and threw his arm around Taeyong’s shoulders, pulling him close. While the servant boy flinched in shock, Jaehyun’s gripped the winecup on the table, his fingers threatening to dent the brass cup. Or perhaps even fling it at Kai’s head.

Kai winked at his friend and scoffed. “What do you think about my friend over there?” Kai asked Taeyong.

“Who… Who are you talking about?”

“Why, the young Prince of Morridh, of course,” said Kai. “He has taken quite a liking to you, in case you haven’t noticed. No harm in giving the poor boy a bit of sugar once in a while, right?”

The boy tore away from Kai’s grip and straightened his tunic. “I should go.”

“You Nairthans love playing hard to get,” Kai said, shaking his head.

“I am actually a Samorian,” said Taeyong as he walked away with a scowl etched on his eyebrows.

Kai stood frozen for a moment before he lunged after Taeyong, seizing the boy’s arm again. “What did you say?”

Taeyong blinked. “My mother was from Samor. Why?”

Kai withdrew his hand and smiled. “Nothing,” he muttered. “I just… didn’t know.”

With a confused grimace, the servant boy marched away. Kai rubbed the back of his neck, heaving a breath. He immediately wanted to dote on the boy. He had not met a fellow Samorian, at least not to his knowledge, in a long while. He supposed it was nice to meet one of his own people after so long. Especially here in Nairth.

Kai missed home. He tried not to think so much about it, but he did miss it. When he would return to Samor in a handful of weeks, he would no longer be the child who ran wild in the palace, breaking the rules his mother had set particularly for him, kissing kitchen boys and girls, slipping away from his daily lessons, spending most of his spare time in the training arena practising his swordplay. He would have to ascend the throne and bear the crown. He would have to rule Samor. He would be king. His carefree days were coming to an end.

Avenging his father’s death would be even harder once he was king.

He looked to Egeryn, who was all smiles, grinning from ear to ear as he paraded his youngest son around like a show pony. He beamed like he had never been prouder. His joy and pride were blinding him from the sorrowed mess his son was at the moment. Kai knew what was to come. He simply could not wait to see Egeryn down on his knees, disgraced and humbled.

* * *

The celebration continued even as the daylight began to make way for the dark of dusk. When Jaehyun eventually returned to join Kai and Yuri, he looked at Kai as though he wanted to dagger him. “You,” he spat, prodding his finger into Kai’s chest. “Stay away from Taeyong.”

Kai clicked his tongue and said, “I thought you loved sharing, buddy.”

Jaehyun rolled his eyes, groaning. “Stop messing with me,” he mumbled, reaching out to grab an oyster from a tray.

“Wait,” rasped Yuri. “What is happening between you and Taeyong? That’s the servant boy, right?”

“ _Nothing_ is happening,” grumbled Jaehyun. “That’s the problem.”

“I thought I warned you about not messing around with the boys here!” hissed Yuri. “You don’t know which one of them could be a bearer.”

“Well, you’re off the hook, don’t worry,” said Kai. “He’s a Samorian.”

“What?” Jaehyun and Yuri said simultaneously.

“He does look like a Samorian now that I think about it,” said Yuri.

“You know exactly _one_ other Samorian,” scoffed Jaehyun, nodding his head toward Kai.

Kai narrowed his eyes when he spotted Sehun stealthily slipping away from his family and slinking out in the back. “Here, hold this.” He handed his cup over to Yuri before he wended his way out of the hall to go looking for the prince.

When he finally found Sehun in a nearby corridor, leaning over the balustrade, hands gripping the edge, he stopped in his tracks. Sehun sniffled a few times with his hung low. It seemed like he was crying. Angrily.

He picked up a pot seated on the balustrade and nearly hurled it over the railing, but he stopped when he noticed Kai’s quiet presence.

Putting the flowerpot down again, he wiped his nose and scowled at Kai. “What do you want?” he asked.

Kai shrugged. “Are you tired?”

Sehun looked away sharply. “No.”

“You look tired.”

“Well, that’s none of your business now, is it?” he spat. Kai was not offended by Sehun’s tone. In fact, he found it incredibly amusing. “You just make sure that you have packed all of your stuff. You are leaving in the morning, I heard.”

“I am,” said Kai, closing the distance between them. Crossing his arms over his chest, he leaned back against the balustrade and cocked an eyebrow at Sehun’s puffy eyes. “You look like you haven’t slept in days.”

“And whose fault is that?” growled Sehun.

“I feel like you are implying mine, but I don’t really see how.”

“Probably because you haven’t been losing any sleep over me.”

Kai chuckled. And it seemed to have angered Sehun even more. “You are feisty when you are overtired.”

“I told you I’m not tired,” he said. He glanced back at the hall and frowned. He wiped his eyes furiously with the sleeve of his coat. “I should get back in.”

“Do you want to?” asked Kai.

Sehun shook his head. “But what choice do I have?”

Kai glanced around them. Pulling away from the balustrade, he took hold of Sehun’s hand. “Shall we get out of here?”

Sehun blinked. “And go… where?”

“It’s night-time,” said Kai. “Nobody would notice us. Come on.”

Sehun did not refuse as Kai dragged him away. The palace guards who were at their posts paid them no heed. It was not their job to stop their prince.

“I would get in trouble for up-and-leaving without telling anyone,” said Sehun.

“So?” When he glanced back, he saw Sehun’s worried frown slowly melt away as an excited grin stretched his lips. He tightened his fingers around Kai’s.

They broke into a jog toward the palace’s outer walls past the bailey.

“What are we doing?” gasped Sehun when they reached the wall.

“Climbing over the wall,” said Kai.

“How?”

“Have you never climbed walls to escape a place or outrun men who wanted to have your head for sleeping with their wives?”

Sehun grimaced. “No? Have _you_?”

Kai laughed. “Does the bear shit in the woods? Come.” He positioned Sehun before him and held onto the boy’s waist. Sehun shuddered when Kai gripped the sides of his waist a little too hard. “Grab onto that ledge and climb over it.”

“This sounds like a bad idea.”

“You will be fine. Trust me.”

“I do… trust you.”

Kai paused for a moment to stare at Sehun’s eyes when the boy turned his head around. “All right. On the count of three. One, two–”

As he raised Sehun from the ground, the prince promptly grabbed onto the ledge at the top of the wall. Clinging to it for a moment, Sehun used his feet to clamber up the wall.

“Now what?” he asked, climbing to the top.

“Jump to the other side!”

“What?! What if I break a knee or something?”

Kai groaned. “You’re not living if you don’t break something of yours once in a while.”

Sehun made a face at Kai and worriedly glanced down at the ground on the other side. Then with a trembling breath, he leaped off the wall.

“You there!” Kai heard a guard bellow from behind him. He quickly clambered up the wall and jumped to the other side, landing next to Sehun, who was already straightening up, dusting the grass stains from his trousers. “Wasn’t that fun?”

Sehun laughed despite himself. “That was the rowdiest thing I have ever done in my life.”

Grinning, Kai took hold of Sehun’s hand again and led him toward the city.

* * *

Some parts of the city were still wide awake. There was music, and the smell of freshly baked lime wafers rolled over the entire street. The stalls were still open for business, much to Sehun’s delight. Whenever he visited the city, he was always surrounded by guards who constantly watched him like a hawk and forbade him from interacting with the street pedlars directly.

“Hungry?” Kai asked.

For the first time today, Sehun actually was. He nodded. They wandered over to the stall that was selling the lime wafers, their hands still locked.

The pedlar’s eyes widened when he recognized Sehun. “Your Highness,” he rasped.

“Shh,” Sehun hushed him. “Please, don’t attract any attention.”

The pedlar, though overwhelmed, bowed his head. “Of course, My Prince.” He glanced to Kai next and then dropped his gaze to their hands. Sehun half-heartedly withdrew his hand from Kai’s and frowned.

“We will have two sticks of your lime wafers,” said Kai.

The pedlar immediately handed them two and shook his head when Kai held out the coins for them. “Oh, no. Please. I cannot accept any money from the prince.”

Kai sighed. “He’s not the prince tonight,” he said and tossed the coins over to the man. He then grabbed Sehun’s hand again and pulled him away.

Sehun’s heart had never beaten so fast as they strolled down the street. He kept his head low, even though no one particularly looked in their way. No one was expecting the prince to casually walk through the streets of the city holding another boy’s hand at this hour of the evening especially on the day of his engagement party, so no one paid any attention.

They eventually found a dark corner of the street where only mangy cats took residence. Kai handed Sehun one of the lime wafers and watched him take a bite.

They ate in silence for a moment, leaning against the walls on opposite sides. Sehun wiped the crumbs from his lips and looked at Kai, who was now staring at him.

“I wish you would stay,” Sehun muttered, even though he knew that what he was wishing for was completely unreasonable.

Kai sighed. “I wish you weren’t getting married to someone else,” he said. “But we can’t all have everything we want, can we?”

Sehun looked at him sadly now. He was tired, sleep-deprived, and moody beyond reason. He was ready to act impulsively and suggest something stupid.

But before he could, Kai drew away from the wall he was slumped against and stepped closer to Sehun. He slid one of his hands into Sehun’s hair to grip it while the other cupped a side of Sehun’s face. He edged so close that Sehun could smell the lime in his breath. His parted lips made Sehun weak in the knees, and he was unable to look away. Kai looked like he was ready to ravage Sehun in all kinds of ways right there and then. Sehun would have let him. Or at least that was what he thought.

“Aren’t you… going to… kiss me?” Sehun asked breathlessly, hands fisting around Kai’s shirt, as Kai continued to stare at his lips without making any further movement.

“Should I?” muttered Kai, running his thumb along Sehun’s lower lip as he firmly held a side of Sehun’s jaw. “What if I can’t stop this time?”

Sehun’s entire body trembled in that moment. “I would not… ask you to stop,” he whimpered. “I promise.”

Kai’s eyelids fell heavy as he pressed his body against Sehun’s. “Sehun…” he let out, his fingertips digging into Sehun’s scalp at the back of his head. With his back pinned against the wall, Sehun raised his arms and locked them around Kai’s neck while Kai enveloped his around Sehun’s waist. He teasingly brushed the tip of his nose against Sehun’s, his warm breath grazing Sehun’s eager lips. Sehun waited with bated breath.

Kai kissed him like there was no tomorrow. Well, Sehun supposed they really did not have tomorrow. It felt as though all air was knocked out of his lungs when Kai smashed their lips together and started kissing him feverously. His hands were gripping Sehun’s coat by the waist, crinkling the fabric. Sehun tangled his fingers in Kai’s hair and tugged at them a little when Kai bit his lower lip before sucking it tenderly. With throbbing lips, Sehun kissed Kai back fervently, trying to match Kai’s vigour and passion. Kai eventually broke the kiss to latch his mouth onto Sehun’s neck.

Sehun tilted his head back and was unable to swallow the moan that escaped his lips. He had never knew how arousing a kiss on the neck could be. His fingers tightened around Kai’s hair, and he whimpered as Kai licked the protrusion in Sehun’s throat, running his tongue along it, sucking it, wetting it with his saliva. Oh, God. This was killing Sehun. His knees were turning into water. If it weren’t for Kai’s arms that were holding him up, he would have fallen to the ground.

“Kai,” he moaned helplessly, his fingernails clawing at Kai’s shoulders now.

Bringing his head up, Kai claimed Sehun’s lips again, shoving his tongue into Sehun’s mouth. As their breaths mingled, they grappled at each other’s bodies, huffing and groaning, fighting for breath. Sehun’s mouth tasted more like Kai’s now as Kai’s tongue stroked his own. He wished they were back in one of their rooms right now. He would have let Kai take him.

He did not realize that he was crying until he tasted the salt of his own tears on his lips. Kai pulled back, panting when he too tasted it. “Sehun?” he called in a heavy breath. “Did I hurt you?”

Sehun shook his head and quickly wiped the tears from his cheeks. “I don’t want us to part ways so soon,” he said, gasping.

Kai cupped Sehun’s face in his hands and gently wiped Sehun’s cheeks with his thumbs. “What can I do?” he asked. “What will make you happy? Tell me. What should I do?”

Sehun sniffled lightly and adjusted the collar of Kai’s coat. “You look so… handsome,” he remarked with a pained smile.

“Sehun,” Kai sighed.

“I’m afraid there is nothing that you can do,” said Sehun. “Will you kiss me some more? Please.”

Frowning, Kai leaned forward and brushed his lips against Sehun’s cheeks one by one before he pressed a kiss to Sehun’s forehead. “Perhaps we should head back,” said Kai. “You should get some rest.”

Sehun did not let go of Kai’s shirt. “I do not want to go back,” he said.

“Sehun,” sighed Kai. “It will all be all right. Trust me.”

Sehun met Kai’s eyes then and swallowed hard. Just as Kai led him out of the alley, a horde of manned horses surged down the streets, bearing the crest of the House Egeryn.

They came to a halt as one of the palace guards dismounted his horse before hurrying toward Sehun.

“Your Highness!” he yelped in relief. “There you are! We have been searching high and low for you!”

Kai withdrew his hand from Sehun’s this time.

“Why are you here, Your Grace?” asked the guard before he turned to Kai, scowling with a hand rising to the pommel of his sword.

Sehun took a step forward. “It was not his doing,” he said quickly. “I… wanted to get away for a while. It was my fault.”

The guard turned to him again. “Your family is worried sick, Your Highness. We best return right away.”

Sehun nodded. He glanced back to Kai with a frown as he followed the guard back to the horse.

* * *

When he entered the throne room where his entire family was waiting for him like a cat on hot bricks, he found his father pacing a hole into the floor, hands held at his back, his face full of worry.

Daewon and his family were not there, fortunately.

“Sehun!” the queen gasped, jolting up from her throne.

“My dear boy,” his father exclaimed as he hurried over to Sehun, pulling him into his arms. “I nearly lost my mind when we couldn’t find you anywhere.”

“I’m all right, Father,” said Sehun, pulling back. That was when his mother marched right up to him with a furious glower etched on her face.

“Where were you?!” she demanded angrily.

Sehun gulped and hung his head. “Forgive me, Mother. I had left.”

“Why did you leave your own engagement party out of nowhere, without informing anyone?!” his mother cried. She must have been shaken up. The only other time she had shouted at Sehun like this was when Sehun accidentally burned his fingers when he was a child while playing with matches.

“Do not badger him,” said his father. “Where did you go off to, Sehun?” he asked in a calmer tone.

“To… the city,” Sehun admitted. “I was just tired, Father. I am sorry. I did not harbour the energy to entertain any of the guests any longer.”

None of it was a lie.

“You went to the city without a guard to keep you safe?” asked one of his stepmothers. His older brothers and sister were standing in the back, frowning at him both worriedly and furiously.

“I am fine, aren’t I?” Sehun said.

His family fell silent for a moment, including his father. The man eventually heaved a sigh of relief and placed a hand on Sehun’s shoulder. “You look restless,” he said. “Go. Wash up and get some sleep. We will talk more tomorrow.”

Sehun bowed his head and turned on his heel.

As he walked out of the throne room, he heard his mother say to his father, “You have coddled him too much. He could have gotten hurt tonight.”

“I would have killed anyone who dared to lay a finger on him,” said his father.

As Sehun retreated to his room, he stopped when he found Kai waiting by the stairs with his coat in his hands. He pinned Sehun with a lukewarm look.

Exhaling a heavy breath, Sehun walked over to him and took his hand before drawing Kai up the stairs. “Wait, Sehun,” Kai said when they reached Sehun’s room.

“Do not refuse me now, Kai,” Sehun said, and there was a hint of frustration and annoyance in his tone. “You leave tomorrow. But tonight, stay with me.”

Kai said nothing more as Sehun hauled him into his room, slamming the door shut behind him.


	9. Chapter 9

As he turned around after shutting the door, he stilled for a length, staring at Kai who was glancing around the room. He realized that he had _never_ had anyone apart from his family and the servants in his room. He most certainly had never brought a boy he liked in here. He made sure the door was locked securely before he pulled away from the door and started for the balcony.

Leaning over the railing, he drew a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Kai joined him on the balcony shortly after. They stood in silence for a long moment, both unsure of what to say or do next. Sehun hoped that Kai would be the one to break the silence.

And as he had hoped, Kai did. “Sehun,” he said, sighing.

Sehun felt his heartbeat only quicken then. He wanted to reach out and hold Kai’s hand that was on the railing. But he did not. He was too nervous to even move.

Kai pulled away from the railing, eyebrows drawn together in a frown, and turned around to walk back into the room.

Sehun followed him, a few steps behind. He stopped when Kai halted in his tracks to raise a hand to the back of his neck. Kneading it, Kai turned and faced Sehun.

“Are you… sure?” he asked.

Though Sehun was tense and afraid, he did not want to seem reluctant. He did not want to put Kai out and have the boy leave. So, he quickly responded without dithering. “I am,” he whispered, hoping that his voice did not quaver too noticeably.

He then crossed the distance between him and Kai. Lifting his clammy hands to Kai’s chest, he shakily started unbuttoning the pearls of Kai’s shirt. Kai let him, his hands idle at his sides. As Sehun worked the buttons all the way down to the very last, he felt Kai’s shallowed breathing caress his cheek. He paused once he was done unbuttoning Kai’s shirt, his fingers clinging to the hem, unsure of what to do next. He had not thought he was bold enough to even get this far with another boy.

And then Kai raised his hands to sweep the overcoat off of Sehun’s shoulders. As it landed on the floor behind Sehun, Kai edged a little closer, his hand sliding along a side of Sehun’s neck. He exhaled a heavy breath, his forehead almost brushing Sehun’s as his fingers curled around Sehun’s nape. Withdrawing the hand, he quickly undid the buttons of Sehun’s shirt before he started tugging at the laces on the sleeves.

He looked annoyed, his eyebrows furrowed in frustration. “Why are there so many?” he groaned, yanking the laces impatiently.

Sehun let out a soft chuckle, helping Kai to undo the remaining laces.

“Fuck,” Kai grumbled when he had finally unfastened Sehun’s shirt. He then looked up at Sehun with a cheeky smile, sliding his hands past Sehun’s shirt, that was hanging open, to hold the sides of Sehun’s waist.

Sehun shivered. Kai’s hands were rougher than he thought they were. His callused fingers stroked Sehun’s waist under the shirt sensuously while his heavy eyes leered at Sehun’s lips. Sehun brought his own hands to the sternum of Kai’s chest that was exposed by his unbuttoned shirt. Sehun almost asked, _“what now”_ because he had never gotten this far with anyone. He never gotten anywhere with anyone before Kai.

“Are you okay?” Kai asked in a low voice, his hands drawing Sehun closer. Sehun nodded diffidently, hooking his fingers around Kai’s neck.

The kiss was different this time. It was no longer experimental. Sehun was a little more confident this time around, and Kai was not holding back, though his kisses remained gentle for now. They took their time, savouring each other’s lips, byhearting the heat of their mouths. Sehun’s skin was on fire, and so were his insides. Just when he thought it could not get any better, Kai removed his own shirt before he yanked Sehun’s off, too. He then pulled Sehun forward until the front of their bodies were pressed against one another.

Kai was so warm that Sehun began to sweat as Kai enveloped his arms around him. He locked his own arms around Kai’s shoulders and deepened the kiss. He did not pull away even when his lips started to throb against Kai’s.

He did eventually break the kiss, however. “Can we move… to the bed?” he asked Kai breathlessly, walking a hand down Kai’s beautifully toned chest and abdomen. He did not think that he harboured any more strength to stand on his feet any longer. He had about three seconds left before his knees would buckle.

Kai nodded and followed Sehun to the bed. Upon reaching it, Sehun took his seat on the edge and craned his head up to look at Kai, blinking languidly.

Standing before Sehun, Kai slowly began to undo the laces of his trousers. Sehun held his breath while his heart hammered wildly against his chest. His eyes were wandering down the trail of hairs below Kai’s navel and licked his lips when he fixed his gaze on Kai’s steady fingers that were calmly loosening the fly of his trousers. He caught one of Kai’s hands and raised it to his face. Brushing his lips against Kai’s fingers, he glanced up at Kai before parting his lips to suck one of the fingers into his mouth. Kai’s chest began to heave visibly as Sehun’s tongue swirled around his forefinger, the warm insides of his mouth suckling the digit. It was the obscenest thing Sehun had ever done.

Kai ran his thumb along Sehun’s swollen, reddened lower lip before he gently pushed Sehun by the shoulder to recline on the bed.

Then climbing onto the bed, he straddled Sehun and took hold of the sides of Sehun’s head before leaning down to kiss him again, full on the mouth. Sehun splayed his hands on Kai’s back, his mind running haywire as Kai rocked his hips, their crotches grinding against one another.

“Kai,” he moaned into the other boy’s mouth, his fingernails digging into the skin on Kai’s back.

Kai stopped then and knelt up between Sehun’s legs. He kept his eyes on Sehun’s face as he cupped one of Sehun’s calves to lift his booted foot off the bed. After removing both of their footwear, Kai stroked Sehun’s ankle where the anklet he had gifted Sehun now resided. Bowing his head, Kai pressed a kiss to the top of Sehun’s foot before he crawled forward once more to kiss Sehun on the lips. He then smashed his mouth against Sehun’s neck, peppering it kisses that were almost painful.

Moans and whimpers spilled from Sehun’s lips as he fisted one hand around Kai’s hair and slid the other down Kai’s back. He curled his bottom lip between his teeth and lifted his head a little to watch Kai slither down his body, leaving a blazing trail of kisses on Sehun’s chest. Pausing for a moment, he looked up at Sehun with the most prurient gaze before he bowed his head again and brushed his lips against one of Sehun’s nipples.

All of Sehun stopped functioning momentarily. Kai’s tongue darted out to tease the pebbled nipple before he started sucking on it, leaving it pinker than before. Sehun had touched himself before, of course. But it had felt nothing like this. This felt like a thunderbolt.

His breaths were short and laboured, as though he had just run a race. He rubbed his other nipple with his fingers, whimpering softly while Kai gently sucked it.

He eventually came back up to kiss Sehun once more, a little more sloppily and hungrily this time. “What do you want, Sehun?” he asked, panting against Sehun’s mouth.

“I want… whatever that you want,” Sehun replied. It was a very diplomatic answer because honest to God, he did not know what he wanted specifically, and if he did know that, he would not know how to ask for it.

Kai’s smile eased Sehun’s nerves a little. He supposed Kai would know what he was doing. He trusted Kai. Perhaps more than he should. But he had good enough reasons to trust the boy.

His face burned with embarrassment when Kai reached down and palmed his hardened member over the trousers.

“Wow,” Kai breathed out. Sehun could not tell if it were mockery or genuine surprise. “You are already so…”

Sehun looked away, blushing feverishly. He needed Kai to remove his hand, or Sehun was only going to embarrass himself even more.

Kai did move his hand as he hurriedly yanked the laces of Sehun’s pants free. When he started to crawl his way down, Sehun caught his arms and frowned.

“You don’t have to,” he said. “Let… me.”

Kai blinked. “What?”

“Let me… pleasure you,” Sehun whispered shakily, wondering if he had said something offensive to warrant such a surprised response. “You don’t have to… do this for me.”

Kai was quiet for a length before he smiled and shook his head. “I _want_ to do this,” he said. “I want to… taste you. Feel you in my mouth. I want to have you trembling and coming in my arms, Sehun.”

Sehun did not know what overcame him in that moment as he threw his arms around Kai and pulled him back up for a desperate kiss, as though he were dying for one. Oh, God. He was a complete goner, wasn’t he? He never knew that he would turn out to be such a sucker for boys who said things like that. It was shockingly filthy, but at the same time, the way Kai had said it… It made Sehun’s heart flutter like it never had. He envied Kai’s boldness and confidence. Sehun could probably never say such a thing, and even if he tried, it would never have come out so confidently. Perhaps he would gain more aplomb with more experience.

But right now, he was a timorous mess.

As Kai kissed his way down once more, Sehun took in a shaky breath, planting his hand in Kai’s hair. He turned his face away, embarrassed, when Kai lowered his pants enough to expose his hipbones.

“Don’t look away,” said Kai. Sehun looked at him, blinking. “You are… so fucking beautiful, Sehun.”

Sehun swallowed hard. There was no point in trying to hide his mortification now. He kept his eyes on Kai, especially his mouth that was kissing all over Sehun’s hipbones and waistline. He wrapped his hand around the base of Sehun’s erection and locked his gaze with Sehun’s.

Holding his breath, Sehun watched Kai drag his tongue along the underside of the cock, all the way up the slit of the cockhead.

Sehun threw his head back as his body arched off the bed. His eyes rolled all the way back when Kai teased the leaking slit with the tip of his tongue. Bringing his head up again, he watched Kai lick the cockslit a few more times, licking it clean and swallowing the precome. The way he smirked in that moment spun Sehun’s head.

“You really like that, don’t you?” said Kai before he wrapped his mouth around the cockhead. Sehun dropped his head back on the bed and moaned, his hands gripping Kai’s hair as Kai slowly sank in.

His spine curved off the mattress every time the tip of his cock brushed the back of Kai’s throat. “Kai,” he cried breathlessly, trying hard to not to thrust into Kai’s mouth.

Kai ran his hands up and down the sides of Sehun’s torso, his mouth stretched, his cheeks hollowed, his tongue swirling around Sehun’s swollen shaft. It was all simply incomprehensibly stunning.

Stroking Sehun’s thighs, Kai then pulled back a little to place a kiss on Sehun’s belly. “Don’t come yet,” he muttered, tonguing Sehun’s navel lightly.

Sehun eagerly stared at Kai straightening up on his knees to take hold of his own cock, drawing it out of his trousers. Propping himself up on his elbows, Sehun breathlessly watched Kai pump the cock in his fist. He crawled forward, straddling Sehun’s chest. Cupping the back of Sehun’s head, fingers gripping the locks of Sehun’s hair, Kai then rubbed the tip of his cock against Sehun’s parted lips.

Once again, Sehun was in awe of how Kai did everything. He did not think that he could get any harder, but here he was, hard and throbbing, moaning in both pain and pleasure as he took Kai into his mouth.

He felt like an utter novice compared to Kai. Well, he was a novice. Worse than a novice. But he tried to mimic everything that Kai had just done to him. He made sure his teeth were out of the way, and his tongue applied the right amount of pressure when it was licking the cockhead. But Kai did most of the work as he steered Sehun’s head with his hand that was clutching Sehun’s hair. He rocked his hips, thrusting in and out of Sehun’s mouth at a steady pace.

Sehun retched a little when the cockhead slammed against the back of his throat, and Kai pulled out of his mouth. Drawing Sehun’s face up, he messily kissed Sehun on the lips, all spit and tongue, before he shoved his cock back into Sehun’s mouth.

“Fuck,” Kai exhaled in a moan, tossing his head back in pleasure. He eventually pulled away and positioned himself between Sehun’s legs once more. Taking both their pulsating members in a hand, he leaned forward to connect their mouths while his hand stroked their cocks together. The friction had Sehun seeing stars on the back of his eyelids.

Sehun came almost immediately, unable to hold back any longer. Kai hissed when Sehun accidentally bit his lip, caught in the moment, but he continued to kiss Sehun as he neared his own climax. Although Sehun was suddenly conscious and worried about the mess he had made all over Kai’s hand and their abdomens, Kai did not seem to mind.

When he finally reached his peak, he collapsed on top of Sehun, gasping for air. Sehun lightly wrapped his arms around Kai and nuzzled into a crook of Kai’s sweat-slicked neck, pressing a soft kiss against it. He had never felt so happy and sated, though fatigued beyond belief.

He hummed lovingly when Kai brushed a kiss on his forehead. “You good?” he asked Sehun.

Sehun nodded, still grinning like an idiot. “Sleepy,” he murmured like a child.

Kai fell to the bed beside him and brought his head up to look at the white stains on their bellies. He then reached over to grab one of the lacey doilies from the nightstand to wipe their abdomens. Tossing them to the ground, he drew the eiderdown over their spent bodies and pulled Sehun close.

“Should I leave?” he asked. Sehun was not sure if he were asking about leaving the room for the night or about leaving Nairth.

Either way, Sehun’s was, “No. Stay. Stay here. Stay with me. Please.”

* * *

Kai roused a couple of hours before sunup. Sehun was fast asleep in his arms, and he had never looked so restful. Kai took a moment to survey Sehun’s face. He was a different kind of beauty, Kai thought. There was innocence in his beauty, yet at the same time, there was a desperate calling for corruption. It was as though Sehun was looking, longing to be tainted. His beauty could tempt men and women to do unspeakable things to have a taste of it. Kai could understand why the Morridhian royal family wanted to acquire such a treasure.

He carefully removed his arms from Sehun and sat up. He thought of leaving Sehun a note, but he decided against it. Perhaps it would leave Sehun pining for him more. He knew that this was not the end of the line for them. He was now engraved deeply in Sehun’s soul and body. He had started a fire within the boy that would stay lit for a long time. Sehun would never be able to forget or forgo him.

Even so, Kai decided to give Sehun’s lips one last kiss, just a slight brush of their lips, before he rose from the bed and searched the floor for his shirt. He glanced back at Sehun, who was cosily cocooned in the eiderdown, and walked out of the room.

* * *

When morning came, Sehun reluctantly cracked his eyes open to the morning sunlight and frowned when he was met with the empty side of the bed. It had been lain on all night. But now it was cold and vacant with nothing but crumpled covers.

He sat up and glanced at the pile of dishevelled clothes on the floor. There were some aches in his body, but they were not prominent enough to be discomforting. Shoving the eiderdown aside, he rose from the bed and grabbed his silk robe. As he pulled it on, he stopped before the mirror, gawking at his reflection for a moment. There were more bruises on his body that he thought there’d be. Patches of purplish red on his otherwise fair skin. He did not even recall Kai bruising him so much last night. His collarbones, neck, thighs, chest and belly bore discoloured splotches. Sehun smiled at the bruises, deciding to wear them with pride. It was a milestone for him. A beautiful, significant milestone that meant a lot to him. It was the first venereal experience he had ever had. He had not known that trusting another person with his body could feel so good. It was as though he were brought into a whole different world.

Kai had been so gentle and careful with him last night. He had not done anything that Sehun would not have wanted. In fact, if he had wanted to go even further in the heat of the moment, Sehun would not have stopped him. He would have crossed that threshold of intimacy with Kai without a second thought. But he supposed Kai was in a better state of mind than Sehun was. Kai had had the self-restraint to stop when he needed to stop. He had not wanted them to do anything that either of them would have regretted come morning.

Sehun was not sure if that ship had not long sailed. He was already longing for Kai’s touch again. God, even looking into Kai’s eyes would have sated his hunger. With his newfound grievances, he stepped into the bathing chamber. He was still covered in the stains from the previous night.

After washing himself without waiting for the servants, he quickly clothed himself and stood before the mirror again to make sure that his high-collared tunic was concealing the love marks on his neck.

That was when the door swung open, and his sister gushed into the room, panting heavily.

“Areum?” Sehun stared at her with widened eyes. “What’s happened?”

“They are leaving,” she blurted out. “Are you not going to say goodbye?”

Sehun stood still for a length, trying to swallow the reality. “What?”

“Jaehyun’s friends,” Areum rasped. “Your Kai. He is leaving. Right now!”

Sehun was not sure why his sister had raced all the way here to tell him this, but he was grateful. With his heart in his mouth, he forced his legs to move. They then broke into a run toward the corridor outlooking the bailey.

When they reached the corridor, Sehun came to an abrupt halt, hitting the balustrade. Leaning over it, his face paled, all blood draining from his cheeks, as he watched the carriage rattle past the palace gates.

His eyes welled up with hot tears that promptly spilled onto his cheeks.

“Sehun,” his sister sighed consolingly, taking hold of his arm, leaning against it. “I’m sorry. I should have come and get you sooner.”

Sehun could not get himself to move or speak for moments as he lifelessly stared at the carriage that soon disappeared beyond the palace walls.

“No,” he let out, voice breaking. He could not look away from the palace gates. Part of him wanted to chase after the carriage.

Last night was their goodbye, then. Sehun might never see Kai again.

He had been a fool. Kai was right. He was a coward.

And cowards would never find true happiness.

* * *

His sister broke the silence with a loud, audible sigh. “You cannot just sit and mope for days, Sehun,” she said from where she was sitting on the chaise lounge, watching Sehun, who has been refusing to leave his bed for three days.

“I have been such an idiot,” said Sehun, sniffling hard. His eyes were puffy, and his lungs hurt from having cried relentlessly for the past few days. “I did not think… this would be so hard. There is nothing that I can do now.”

Areum rose from her seat and came to sit next to Sehun. She had been with him all the time, making up excuses for his absence at meals and gatherings. “There _is_ … something that you can do,” she said. “You could tell the family the truth. Tell Father that you do not wish to marry Prince Daewon.”

“And that I want to be with a commoner? He would blame Kai for having seduced me.”

“Well, he did seduce you.” Areum shrugged.

“I was not seduced,” Sehun grumbled, hugging his knees to his chest. “I did not realize how much I liked him when he was still here.”

His sister rested her chin on his knees and frowned at him sadly. “I did not realize that your feelings for him were this serious either.”

And sleeping with Kai the night before he left had only made things worse. It had all been Sehun’s fault. Kai was not the one to be blamed here. It was Sehun. If only he were braver. If only he had the gut to be selfish for once and disappoint his family. If only he was bold enough to choose love.

But he loved his family, too. He wanted to uphold his father’s honour. And the price was his own happiness.

Taeyong entered the room after a knock. “Your Highness,” he called. “The king requests your audience.”

Sehun blinked his puffy eyes in surprise. “To lunch?” he asked.

Taeyong shook his head. “In his study. He wants to see you.”

Sehun had never refused his father. Not his personal requests, no. So, he pushed himself up and climbed out of the bed. After pulling on a new shirt and making himself look more presentable, he wended his way to his father’s study.

He found the man at his desk, looming over a pile of scrolls.

“Father?” he called.

His father looked up from his quill and ink bottle. He smiled, though his frown was more pronounced. “Come in, my child.”

Sehun walked over to the desk and waited patiently with his hands at his back. His father put a scroll away after sealing it with his signet ring and rose from his seat.

Ambling over to his son, he placed a hand on Sehun’s back and gently ushered him toward the window. “Are you feeling unwell?” he asked, his tone as concerned as ever.

Sehun shook his head, knowing that if he lied, his father would have the healers prodding into him day and night. “I am fine, Father.”

His father heaved a sigh, gazing out the window. “You do not seem so fine to me,” he remarked.

Sehun fell quiet, his heartbeat quickening a little.

“Is something troubling you, son?” his father then inquired.

Sehun was not sure why he continued to stay mum.

His father turned to him with a deepened frown. “I thought you would be more excited about the preparation for your forthcoming wedding,” he said. “But you are rarely participating in any of it.”

Sehun felt a thick lump forming in his throat. His balled his clammy hands into fists.

“Have I… misjudged?” asked his father. “Are you not happy with this marriage, my boy?”

Sehun fell apart then. He hung his head, slowly shaking it as tears stung in his eyes.

His father was silent for a long moment as he moved back to his desk. Leaning over it, he placed his hands on top of the desk.

Sehun had never seen his father so devastated. He immediately regretted his response. He was not planning on telling his father anything, but as soon as the man had asked him about it, he could not refrain.

“What have I done…” his father let out.

“Father,” Sehun whimpered, hurrying to his father’s side. “You had not done anything. I will marry Prince Daewon as you wish.”

“But it isn’t your wish, is it?” he asked, raising his head. His gaze was sharp when it met Sehun’s.

Sehun knew that lying would not convince his father now. As a tear rolled down his cheek, he shook his head once more. “It isn’t.”

His father slammed a hand on the desk, knocking a few scrolls over the edge. Sehun shuddered. “I believed that Prince Daewon would suit you. He would deserve you. How could I be so wrong?!”

“No, Father,” Sehun said quickly. “Perhaps… you were right. On paper, he and I should be compatible. But I… I love another.”

His father’s shocked expression made Sehun instantly regret his confession, which was clearly not well thought out. “What?” his father rasped.

Sehun wished that he could collect the words that he had spilled and shove them back into his mouth.

“Who? How?”

Sehun could not bring himself to speak.

His father caught hold of his arm then. “Speak, boy!” he ordered. “Why haven’t you told me that there is someone else in your heart?!”

“I had not meant for it to happen, Father,” said Sehun. “But I would be… happy with him.”

His father retrieved his hand and took a few moments to recollect himself. “You should… have told me… sooner.”

“Father…”

“Who is this boy?”

Sehun looked at his father worriedly.

The man sighed, his expression softening a little. “I will not harm him,” he said. “You have my word.”

“It’s… Kai.”

His father’s eyes bulged out. “Prince Jaehyun’s… companion from his college?”

Sehun nodded, lowering his head. “He is the one I like.”

“He is a simple merchant’s son!”

“He is a good man,” Sehun argued.

His father flinched. Sehun never argued with the man. But he had not been able to hold himself back this time.

Shocked and baffled, his father staggered to his seat and plumped in the chair. Sehun could not believe that he had just told his father the truth. What would happen now? The wedding was in less than two days.

The king’s advisor entered the study and bowed before the king. “Your Majesty, there has been word from–”

The king cut him off with a wave of his hand. Then with his eyes shut, he said, “Invite the royal family of Morridh down. I must speak with them forthwith. And see to it that all preparations for the wedding are called off.”

“Your Majesty–” the advisor gasped, astounded.

“Do as I say,” commanded Sehun’s father.

Sehun and the royal advisor could only gawk at the man in disbelief for a while.

“Y-Yes, Your Excellency,” said the advisor before he scuttled out of the room.

“Father,” Sehun let out in a breath.

“If this boy is your happiness,” he said, looking up at Sehun piteously. “then no one deserves you more than he.”

“Father.” He dropped to his knees at his father’s side and pressed his face against his father’s knee, breaking into a sob of joy.

His father gently stroked his hair and patted the back of his head, sighing heavily. “I should have understood what is in your heart better. It is my mistake.”

“No, Father. I am sorry I let you down.”

“You have not let me down, child,” he said. “I am the one who has let you down as a father.”

Sehun looked up at him with teary eyes. “Please, do not say such things.”

His father smiled at him lovingly, though his eyes were fraught with worry. “We will set forth to Agaar immediately.”


	10. Chapter 10

“You have welcomed us into your home to insult us!” the Morridhian King yapped ferociously, his face red with rage. “This is an alliance between our two nations, Egeryn!”

“I am well aware of that,” said Sehun’s father from his throne. There was determination in his steady gaze. Even though he was shaken up by Sehun’s confession, he did not let his trepidation show to the other royal family.

“Then you must know that calling off the wedding means jeopardizing the relations between our countries,” said the other king, who was fuming. His anger was reasonable, Sehun supposed.

The Nairthan Queen frowned worriedly at her husband’s side. “My King,” she said. “A lot is at stake here.”

“Indeed,” said the Morridhian King.

Sehun looked to Daewon, whose nostrils were flaring furiously. But he too was glowering at the Nairthan King.

“You promised us a marriage alliance to your family,” said the king. “And you will keep your word!”

“I promised you five carriages worth of gold,” said Sehun’s father. “along with the hand of one of my children.”

“So, you do remember.”

Sehun swallowed hard as he looked to his mother and stepmothers, who were frowning at him disappointedly. They had not uttered a word, but Sehun could tell that they were greatly crestfallen by Sehun’s actions. He had put his father in a very humiliating situation.

“I do,” his father sighed. He looked to Sehun then with a composure like no other. “But I am a father before a king. It was my mistake to have arranged this marriage for my son without asking him what is in his heart.”

“So, you would risk the safety of your nation for your son?” scoffed Daewon. “With all due respect, Your Grace, he is not worth all that.”

Sehun watched his father jolt up from his seat then, his calm demeanour quickly replaced by an outrage like no other. Yejun and Jaein lurched forward, baring their teeth like feral animals. The king stopped his sons in their tracks with a hand on the Crown Prince’s shoulder.

“You will do well to bear in your mind whose house you stand in, Prince Daewon! Another word about any of my children, and I will wage a war on your country on my own account!” he then roared, and the guards took a step forward, hands reaching for their swords and spears.

Daewon pursed his lips at once, gulping.

“My King,” the queen said, trying to placate her husband’s anger.

Rubbing his bearded chin, Egeryn dropped back in his throne and huffed heavily.

“It is not my intention to insult you,” he then said to the Morridhian King. “We have been friends for many years. I would never welcome you into my home to insult you. But my son has no interest in this marriage. He is not the one to be blamed. I will apologize for my short-sightedness.”

He glanced to Sehun once more and bowed his head.

“I will keep my end of the bargain,” his father announced to the Morridhian royal family. “No marriage required. You will receive what you were promised, save my son, plus compensation for your troubles. But I will not be giving my son away.”

The Morridhian King exchanged a glance with his queen and his sons. “What sort of… compensation?” he asked.

“We can discuss it and strike a reasonable deal that would please you,” said Egeryn.

Daewon and his father had a quick thaw at the mention of a compensation. It was as though as long as they benefited from this transaction, they could care less about Sehun.

They nodded their heads in agreement.

Sehun finally breathed. The day seemed endless, and for his father, there was still much to be done. He dismissed his family to have further negotiations with the Morridhian royal family.

Areum pounced on him the instant they were out in the corridor. “Congratulations, you dolt!” she exclaimed, tousling his hair. “I must be the only one who congratulates you for _not_ getting married.”

Sehun could not help but grin. He threw his arms around his sister and embraced her tightly. “I can’t believe this is really happening,” he said.

When he pulled away, he was faced with his mother, who was staring at him with a disapproving look. Frowning, Sehun walked over to her and just as he opened his mouth to issue an apology, her hand struck a side of his face.

Shocked and appalled, Sehun gaped at her with a slacked jaw. “Mother…”

“Don’t,” she spat, her eyes glistening with tears.

“Moira,” Areum’s mother halted his mother when she tried to raise her hand again. “He is a grown boy.”

“You disgraced your father,” she told Sehun, her voice quavering. “You’ve disgraced all of us.”

Sehun’s own eyes began to well up with tears. “Mother, I am sorry.”

“How could you do that to that man? After all that he’s done for you,” she snapped, shoving Sehun back by the chest. He stumbled a few steps before he was caught by his brothers, who had just wandered out of the throne room.

“Stepmother,” sighed Jaein, steadying Sehun. “Father knows what he’s doing.”

“He would not be in this situation if it weren’t for your reckless brother!” she yapped at Jaein next. She then turned to Sehun again, panting stormily. “Tell me! What has possessed you to do such a thing?! Why did you not open your mouth sooner to tell us that you had no interest in this marriage?!”

Sehun wiped away the tears that rolled down his cheeks. His two brothers were looking at him sympathetically, and so was Areum, who was clinging to Yejun’s arm.

“Speak at least now, for the love of God!” his mother growled. Sehun had never seen her so mad and beside herself.

“I love someone else,” Sehun admitted at length, sniffling.

“Who?” asked Yejun, blinking in surprise.

Sehun swallowed and licked his lips while the others waited for an answer. At times like this, Sehun wished that he was not born into a family like his. They expected too much from him.

“All right, that’s enough,” said Jaein, wrapping an arm around Sehun’s shoulders. “He’s had a long day. Maybe we give him some breathing time.”

“I am your mother,” his mother said, glaring into Sehun’s eyes. “Tell me. Who is it that you humiliated your father for?”

“I never meant to humiliate or disgrace Father, Mother,” he said, trying to speak clearly and confidently for once. It was time that he put a foot down and stood up for himself. “I am very sorry that I did not tell anyone sooner. I am sorry that I waited this long. I might have not even told Father if he hadn’t asked me. I tried to do this for you. For all of you. But I can’t… help myself. For the first time in my life, I got to make a decision. I got to… choose who I want to be with. And I want to be with Kai, Mother.”

“Kai?” his mother rasped, the anger in her face waning to make room for astonishment.

“I knew it,” Yejun muttered behind Sehun. “I knew he had that look about that bastard. Caught his eyes wandering a few times.”

“Does… your father… know this?” his mother asked, her voice shaking as though she were afraid.

Sehun nodded. “I’ve told him.”

“And he is… all right with it?”

Sehun nodded again. His mother tucked a lock of hair behind her ear and shook her head.

She said nothing more as she turned on her heel and walked away, clutching at her chest. His stepmothers went after her after pinning Sehun with a sad look.

Sehun perched himself on the balustrade and hung his head.

His brother, Jaein, rubbed his head then. “If Father has given you his blessing,” he said. “why are you still sulking?”

“It does not mean I had not screwed up,” Sehun muttered. Areum sat down next to him and rested her head on his shoulder. “I’ve let all of you down.”

“Are you kidding me?” scoffed Yejun. “Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to sock that insufferable cunt right in the mouth?”

Sehun’s head shot up, grimacing at the obscene profanity that his brother had just used. But then again, Yejun had always been a little crass in his language. “Daewon?” he asked.

“Yes, that phony roach. Yejun rolled his eyes. “You have done us all a favour by not bringing him into the family.”

“Oh, and you think Kai is a better alternative?” snorted Areum. Sehun tossed her a black look. “Okay. Sorry.” She shrugged.

“What now?” Jaein asked.

“Father said that he would take me to Agaar,” said Sehun. “to meet Kai’s family and ask for their approval.”

“To marry you?” Areum gasped.

Sehun blushed, lowering his gaze.

“Holy fuck,” exhaled Yejun, glancing to Jaein. “He is a goner, isn’t he?”

Sehun looked up at his brothers, blinking. “What?”

“You _are_ in love,” gasped Yejun.

“Brother, please,” Sehun murmured.

“We know that look all too well,” said Jaein, chuckling. “You are glowing.”

“I am going to my room,” said Sehun, rising to his feet before his brothers could tease him to his death.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Jaein caught his arm and pulled him back. “Hold on. I don’t want to badger you, but when did this happen?”

Sehun licked his lips. “I don’t know,” he muttered. “It just… happened, Brother.”

“And what about Kai?” his brother asked. “Does he feel the same way for you?”

Sehun nodded his head confidently. “Yes,” he said. “He does.”

Jaein exhaled heavily and cupped Sehun’s cheek lovingly. “He’d better not break your heart. Or I’d break his head.”

“He is a nice person, Jaein,” said Sehun. “He cares about me. He really likes me.”

Jaein smiled. “Someone would have to be pretty darn stupid to not to like my baby brother.”

Sehun let himself be embraced in his oldest brother’s arms. Areum and Yejun enveloped their arms around them, joining in on the hug. After the way his mother had reacted and chastised him so severely, he felt comforted in his siblings’ solacing embrace.

“Thank you,” he told them, pulling back. He did not want to cry again, so he quickly swallowed the sob that rose in his throat. “Mother is never going to forgive me.”

“Give her time,” said Yejun. “She’d come around. She is just in a state of shock right now. That’s all.”

Sehun dearly hoped that he was right.

* * *

Later that night, he knocked on the doors softly and entered his father’s study. He found the man at his desk, rubbing his wrinkled forehead. He looked like he had aged greatly in just one day. Sehun’s chest tightened when he realized that his father was getting old, too. The man was still very vital, of course. He was only in his fifties. But his beard and hair were already ridden with grey strands. Sehun supposed ruling an entire country would take a toll on a man’s wellbeing.

“Father,” he called.

His father opened his eyes and looked at Sehun with a fatigued gaze. “You haven’t gone to sleep?” he asked.

Sehun shook his head, walking around the desk to kneel on the floor before his father. “I am sorry, Father,” he said. “I have caused you so many troubles. I have dishonoured you.”

His father heaved a sigh, clenching his eyes momentarily again. “You are a blessing to me,” he said. “to the whole family.”

“Do not let me off the hook so easily just because I’m a bearer, Father,” said Sehun. “Reprimand me. Punish me.”

“It isn’t because you are a bearer, son,” his father said. “I would have done the same for all my children. It is true, that I dote on you a little more, but it is because… we thought that we would lose you. You were to be born without life.”

Sehun stared at the man. “What do you mean?”

“There was a complication with your mother’s pregnancy. She was in labour for hours, and the midwives and healers believed that they could only save one of you. Your mother had the better odds. But she pulled through. She did not give up. She gave birth to you, alive and healthy. The entire family rejoiced. Your siblings, your stepmothers, and most of all, myself. I held you in my hands for the first time, and I thought I had gone to heaven. I love all of my children, of course. But you gave me quite the scare. You nearly drove me to be a madman. But you survived. You are a fighter. You are a bearer, but none of that mattered at the time. I was the world’s happiest man to see you take your first breath.”

Sehun did not realize that he was crying until a tear trickled down his cheek.

His father smiled and continued. “You are so… easy to be cherished and loved. By everyone. Since the day you were born. Your brothers, God bless them, were rowdy little chuckleheads. They could not go a single minute without lunging at each other’s throats. And they picked fights with their sisters, too. But they doted on you from the first time they saw you.”

Sehun smiled faintly.

“I am very proud of what you grew up to be. You are kind, sympathetic, generous, intelligent, beautiful. You never disappointed me, Sehun. As I said, this has been _my_ mistake. Not yours.”

“Even so,” Sehun said. “I could have told you sooner. But I was afraid, Father.”

“If you were afraid to speak to me of what your heart desires, then I have failed as a parent,” his father said. “I will always be the wind beneath your wings, son. Never the noose around your neck.”

Sehun bowed his head and leaned it against his father’s knee. “Thank you, Father.”

“Hmm.” His father carded his fingers through Sehun’s hair once. “I will the necessary preparations for a trip to Agaar forthwith.”

“Will Mother go along?” he asked, looking up at his father. “She hates me.”

“She is still fuming,” his father scoffed. “But I will speak with her. She does not hate you. She is just looking out for the family, as always.”

Sehun wiped his eyes and rose to his full height. “I will never do anything to disgrace you like this again, Father.”

“A man who untrue to himself is the one that disgraces me.” He then urged Sehun to retire to his room for some sleep as the night rapidly wore on.

* * *

“Mind if I make an observation, Your Highness?” asked Taeyong with a grin as Sehun floated around the room, dancing and humming, looking for his best clothes to pack for his trip to Agaar.

“Make as many observations as you want, Taeyong,” he chimed.

Taeyong giggled. “You seem awfully chirpy,” he remarked. “I have never seen you so… happy.”

“It is because I am happy, Taeyong.” A rap on the door interrupted them.

Taeyong hurried to get it. “Oh,” he let out, frowning as he opened the door. “It’s… Prince… Jaehyun, Your Highness.”

“I heard that you’ve been telling everyone in the palace that I’m a royal pervert,” Jaehyun said, crossing his arms over his chest as he pinned Taeyong with a cocked eyebrow.

Taeyong’s face crimsoned at once, and he lowered his head.

“Do you know what sort of filthy, perverse obscenities royal perverts do to pretty, helpless little servants like yourself?” Jaehyun then asked.

Taeyong’s lips parted to gasp softly. “I… I’m sorry,” he muttered.

Jaehyun narrowed his eyes. “I could have you punished for casting disparagements about a royalty,” he said, though he kept his tone light. “Perhaps you could use a bit of disciplining.”

Taeyong looked at him worriedly before he glanced back to Sehun, tacitly asking for help.

“Prince Jaehyun,” Sehun called, walking over to the door. “What have you come here for? To harass my servant?”

Jaehyun scoffed. “Do not flatter yourself,” he told Taeyong. “I hope you always remember the day you refused the Prince of Morridhian.” He then looked to Sehun. “I will be leaving for Agaar today. I just came to say my goodbyes.”

“That would not be necessary,” said Sehun. “I will be visiting the College of Agaar very soon.”

Jaehyun’s eyes widened. “You will? What for?”

Sehun ran his tongue over his lips. “I hope to see you there, Prince Jaehyun.”

“You are not thinking of joining the college, are you?”

“No,” replied Sehun. “Have a safe journey.”

Jaehyun looked confused and curious. “You’re being evasive.” He sighed. “But all right. I guess I’ll find out sooner or later.” He turned around and stopped. Facing Sehun again, he said, “For what it’s worth, I think you made the right call.”

“Well, you did advise me against it.” Sehun smiled.

Jaehyun nodded his head once. “It was a pleasure meeting you, Prince Sehun.”

“The pleasure is all mine. And… forgive me for the troubles I’ve caused your family.”

Jaehyun winked once and smirked before he walked away.

Shutting the door, Taeyong slumped his back against it, staring at the floor forlornly.

“Don’t worry,” Sehun told him, ambling back to his dresser. “I’m sure he was just pulling your leg. He would not actually report you.”

“It’s not that,” muttered Taeyong. “He is leaving today?”

Sehun looked back at the boy curiously. “What’s the matter?” he asked. “Do you… not want him to leave?”

Taeyong raised his head and gulped. “Nothing of that sort, Your Highness,” he said. “I do not care if he left.”

The corners of Sehun’s lips quirked up in a cheeky smile. “Really?”

Taeyong rubbed his elbow with a hand. “I should not have told the other servants that he is a pervert. I had not… meant it.”

“But you said that he asked you to bed.”

“He did not… ask me to bed,” said Taeyong. “He just wanted to… see me in his room the other night. Perhaps he… wanted to say something to me. Perhaps I had overreacted.”

“Or… might you have taken a liking to him, too?”

Taeyong shook his head. “That would be very presumptuous of me,” he said, picking up the clothes strewn on the floor. “He is a prince after all.”

Sehun, though still very new to the arena of love, was able to recognize the hopeless look. “Say, Taeyong,” he said, tossing a canister of perfumed oil. “I need an attendant on the trip. You must come along.”

“Me?” Taeyong halted dead in his tracks, his jaw falling low. “B-But, Your Grace, I have never stepped foot outside of Nairth.”

“And I have never went after a boy to profess my love for him,” Sehun said. “First time for everything. Pack what you need. We leave in three days.”

Taeyong bowed his head, looking flabbergasted at first. Then he slowly began to grin to himself.

* * *

With Jaehyun still in Nairth, Kai had the dorm room all to himself when he returned to the college. There were no more classes as the semester neared its end. He had plenty of idle time to lay in his bed day in, day out to wank off to, much to his displeasure, vulgar thoughts of Sehun.

The son of his enemy or not, Sehun had still been the sweetest body Kai had ever had the pleasure of savouring. Now that Sehun was so far away from his reach, he regretted not having taken the boy for himself that night. It was all a part of his grand scheme, of course. But it most certainly could not have hurt his plot for revenge too much if he had fucked Sehun senseless that very night.

He fell back against his bed and panted heavily, unclenching his hand around his cock. Grimacing at the semen his hand was covered in, he sat up and started for the washroom he shared with Jaehyun.

He froze momentarily once he was done laving his hands when he heard the door creak open. He was not expecting Jaehyun’s return for at least a one more week.

Walking out of the bathroom, he found Jaehyun dropping a knapsack on the ground before he plumped exhaustedly on the bed.

“What are you doing here?” Kai asked, eyebrows arched.

Jaehyun fell back against the bed and threw an arm over his forehead. “The wedding got cancelled,” he said. “I took a horse instead of a carriage to get here sooner.”

Kai fell silent for a long while. He had lost track of the count of days since he came back. “That’s right. The wedding was two days ago.”

“Yeah, supposed to be,” huffed Jaehyun. He propped himself up on his elbows and squinted at Kai. “Prince Sehun called it off. He refused to marry my brother.”

Kai took his seat on his bed. Though it was what he had wanted, he was still surprised about the fact that Sehun had actually done it. “Did he say… why?”

Jaehyun shrugged. “Not that I know of,” he muttered.

“Your father and brother must be seething mad about it.”

“Oh, you have no idea,” snorted Jaehyun. “King Egeryn paid four times what he had promised us as compensation.”

Kai gawked at him for a moment. “Four… times the gold?”

Jaehyun shrugged once more. “They were happy with it. They could reinforce the army with those resources.”

“And… what about Sehun?”

“He seemed quite on cloud nine the last time I saw him.” He rubbed his chin, lost in his thoughts for a beat. “Oh! He did say he will be visiting the college soon.”

Kai blinked. “Our college?”

“Yes. He did not say why, though.”

Oh, Kai knew why. Bloody hell, he could not believe this was actually happening. Sehun had gone and called off his own wedding, and he was on his way to Agaar.

Now that it was all getting too real, Kai rose from his seat to pace the room restlessly, rubbing the back of his neck.

“You okay?” Jaehyun asked.

“He’s coming here,” Kai said.

Jaehyun stared at him.

Kai stopped before the window and glanced at the stable that was in his eyeline.

“Why do you look so unnerved about that?” Jaehyun asked at length.

Kai exhaled heavily, shaking his head. “No reason.”

There was no point in hiding it from Jaehyun since he was bound to find out why Sehun was coming here soon, anyway. But Kai decided not to waste his breath on it.

“We’ve got exams to worry about,” Kai said. “Let’s focus on that. We shall give Prince Sehun a friendly welcome when he gets here.”

“Were you beating off before I got here?” asked Jaehyun all of a sudden, nodding to the untied laces of Kai’s pants. “God, please tell me you did not do it on my bed.”

“I’m sure your bed has seen worse.” Kai fastened his laces and started for his desk, where he spent the rest of the day, cudgelling his brain about Sehun. Only now that he was not turned on, he was on tenterhooks.

He eventually glanced to the pile of letters from his mother, which he had not read. He had no intention of reading them either, but he suspected that in one of those letters, she would have informed him about the cavalry that would come to escort him home immediately after his final examinations.

* * *

On the last day, Kai joined Yuri and Jaehyun at their usual table in the dinner hall after the exam.

“How did it go?” inquired Yuri with a worried frown.

Kai shrugged his shoulders, popping a hunk of bread into his mouth after dipping in some butterscotch sauce. “It’s Agaarian History,” scoffed Kai. “I am not expecting any miracles.”

“Of course not,” grumbled Yuri. “Pass or fail, you’d still get to wear a crown and rule a whole country of people.”

Kai grimaced. He did not want to be reminded of it. There was something ominous about sitting in the throne he was used to seeing his father in. It made his stomach clench.

“You are both invited to the Maytime Festival and my coronation, by the way,” Kai told them.

“Would not miss it for the world,” said Yuri. “I cannot believe one of my best friends will soon become a king.”

Kai sighed.

A teacher burst into the dinner hall just as Kai reached out for a slice of cornbread.

“Kai,” he called. All students, noble or not, were treated equally in the school. All titles and formal appellations were disregarded. The students were treated all the same. “Come quickly! You have visitors.”

Kai exchanged a glance with Jaehyun, who fixed him with an eager look. Wiping his hand on a napkin, Kai rose to his feet and followed his teacher out of the hall.

“They are waiting for you in the courtyard,” the teacher said. Bowing his head, Kai started for the courtyard of the college on his own.

Strangely enough, his heart was pounding nervously. He did not know what he was so highly strung for. He had been waiting for this day. It would be his first victory. A steppingstone.

When he reached the courtyard, he looked to the handful of guards bearing the Nairthan crest on their liveries. There wasn’t anyone else with them.

Confused, Kai approached them. One of them stepped forward with a scroll. “Are you Kai?” he asked.

“It would appear so,” replied Kai, raising his hands to his hips. “You’ve come a long way from home, gentlemen.”

“His Majesty, King Egeryn of Nairth, is awaiting your presence outside,” said the guard. “If you would please follow us to the gates.”

Kai raised his brows and scoffed. “Look,” he spat. “If your king wants to see me, tell him to come and find me on his own.”

The guards paused for a moment to gawk at him, clearly taken aback by his bold response. “How dare you refuse? His Majesty is the King of Nairth!”

“So? It does not mean that he can grow horns on his head.” Kai rolled his eyes. “He can come past the gates, get on his feet, and come to me if he wants to see me. I am not his errand boy, I’m afraid. And you are no longer in your country for you to exercise your authority in another country.”

With that, he turned around and started for the dinner hall.


	11. Chapter 11

It had been a five-day ride on the road in a rattling carriage to the neighbouring country past the borders. Sehun had been unable to sit still for most of it. Not only because the carriage constantly jolted against rocks and potholes in the roads, but also because he could barely contain his excitement. He was as bright-eyed and bushy-tailed as a cat that was given a potful of sardines. He was not only excited about getting to meet Kai and the adventure that would ensue, but also about the trip to Agaar with his father and mother. He had never gone anywhere with just the two of them. And he had never seen them so chummy with each other. Well, Taeyong also tagged along, but he did not talk much. He never talked much. He slept a lot, though.

The queen and Jaein would take charge in his father’s brief absence. They had all sent Sehun away with kisses and good wishes. His brothers teased him, as usual, saying that he was going on a romantic journey to win the love of his life. Sehun had blushed and threatened to hit them in the heads, but he would never really hit them. They were his brothers.

His stepmothers had made that Sehun had enough orange sweetmeats and butter toffees for the road. Sehun shared them with Taeyong. Areum told him not to do anything stupid while he was in Agaar. Sehun promised her that he would not.

He glanced out the carriage window as they rode through the capital of Agaar. A few guards followed the carriage on horses. He could not help but grin at the street that was thronging with Agaarians. They were dressed more properly than Nairthans. The men were all in puffy shirts, shirtfronts, and robes. The women wore slimmer kirtles and looser bodices. Everywhere Sehun looked, he saw a scholar in the midst of a group of people. He must have passed at least six different bookstores now.

“Sehun,” his mother called, chidingly. “Do not stick your head out like that. It is unseemly.”

Sehun pulled his head back in but continued to grin. He was way too happy and excited to even worry his mother who still had not forgiven him for what he had done. She had been quieter than Taeyong for the better part of the journey. She only spoke when her king required her to speak.

They sat across Sehun and Taeyong in the carriage, side by side. Somewhere on the road, his father had slid closer to his mother. And occasionally, Sehun found them holding his hands and his mother blushing. She did not try to pull her hand away or flinch whenever her husband would whisper something into her ear.

Whenever the man was not romancing his wife or trying to make her laugh and lighten her mood, he was talking to Sehun. About all sorts of things. The thing about his father was that he was as well-read and curious as Sehun about all kinds of fields. They talked about politics, diplomacy, foreign affairs, the country’s treasury, the appointment of ministers, dead painters, famous poets, star clusters, but also the more mundane things, like how they should have walnut pie and banana coulis when they return because it had been a while since they’d had it.

His mother rarely joined them in the discussions, but she listened attentively.

Yesterday, when they stopped to stretch their legs on the side of the road, she worriedly asked the king what was to become of this whole thing.

Sehun watched his father wrap an arm around her shoulders comfortingly. “You worry too much,” he told her, smiling. “I will make sure that it is all okay.”

“By now, the entire country would be talking about the cancelled wedding,” she had said, resting her head against her husband’s chest. Sehun had never seen them be so close and intimate within the palace walls. Within the palace walls, his father was a king who had many duties and meetings to attend. He loved all his wives, of course. But Sehun supposed it must be a difficult arrangement to share a man with three other women. His father only had so much spare time in his hands to split it between his four wives.

His cheeks grew hot, and he decided to look away when his father leaned his head to give his mother a kiss. He pretended to be busy with Taeyong, who was helping him change into a new shirt.

“It will be all right, Moira,” he had told her. She seemed to loosen up in his arms.

“I am just concerned that if… this does not pan out as you two are hoping for it to, My King,” she said. “he might be… branded.”

Sehun frowned. She was right to worry about that. Once, fine, it could be a stroke of bad luck. But twice, that would make Sehun a tragedy. People would talk. Who would want to marry a bearer who had been proven to be of rotten luck?

“It’s his happiness that matters,” he heard his father say, quietly.

His mother sighed. “I know,” she said. “I wouldn’t want anything more. But call it mother’s intuition… I just… do not have a good feeling about this.”

It was ominous. Sehun tried not to think much about it. Once they had met Kai again, perhaps his mother would be more accepting of the situation.

As they neared the hill upon which the college was located, Sehun felt his heart thump ferally. He almost reached out and grabbed Taeyong’s hand for moral support. He did not because his mother would be horrified.

He hoped that he looked tidy enough. He neatened the creases in his shirt.

“You look fine, chap,” his father commented with a snort.

Sehun bit on his lip embarrassedly.

When the carriage finally came to a halt, Sehun popped his head out the window again. The college was much bigger than he had thought it would be, seated behind colossally huge gates.

“You seem nervous,” his father said, blinking at him. Then he looked away for a moment, lost in his thoughts for a moment. He glanced at his wife, then.

She finally managed a smile. “It is the brilliance that was missing when he first met Prince Daewon,” she said.

“Indeed,” his father agreed. “Look at him now. Overjoyed and excited.”

They seemed to have forgotten that Sehun was even in the carriage as they shared a chaste kiss. Sehun supposed they had a reason to celebrate this moment. Their only son had found the one he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He was as happy as he had ever been. _Happier._

As much as they wanted to exit the carriage and ease the soreness in their backs, his father only summoned the Captain of the King’s Guard through the window.

“Your Majesty,” said the Captain, dismounting his horse.

“Tell your men to summon the kid called Kai, final year,” the man ordered. “He is a friend of Prince Jaehyun of Morridh.”

“Right away, My King.” As the Captain delegated to some of the guards, Sehun tapped his feet restlessly against the floor of the carriage.

“Could we not go inside and meet him ourselves?” Sehun asked. Or rather, _he_ could go inside and ask for Kai on his own. Perhaps then he could greet Kai with a kiss.

“Rein in your horses, son,” his father scoffed. “But I could not blame you. I was just like you when I was your age.”

“Were you?” Sehun chuckled. He would not mind the distraction. He was on the verge of bursting out the carriage.

“Oh, yes,” his father said with a heavy breath. “Those were quite the days when I could still run wild and free, fornicating with pretty chambermaids.”

Sehun’s mother cleared her throat.

Egeryn smiled sheepishly. Sehun often wondered why his father took four wives. Had they all been for political purposes? He was every affection towards every one of them. But he doubted that one could fall in love the same way so many times with so many different people.

“Where will we be lodging during our stay here?” his mother inquired.

“I did not have the time to write the King of Agaar of our visit, but I am certain he would be thrilled to host us for a couple of days,” said his father.

Sehun could not recall anything about the royal family of Agaar, though he was certain that he had met them when he was a child. But he did remember that they were a much smaller family compared to his own. The King and Queen of Agaar had two children. A son and a daughter. Though eleven years younger than the daughter, their son was next in line for the throne.

Sehun kept looking out the window, hoping the catch the sight of Kai. But all that he saw were some scholars in robes and a group of young boys in uniforms.

A harrowing while later, he saw the guards, walking back to the carriage. His heart skipped a beat as his lips stretched into a wide grin. The smile quickly fell when he realized that there was no one else with the guards.

Had they been too late? Was Kai no longer at the college? Had he left for home already?

One of the guards said something to the Captain. They were way out of Sehun’s earshot for him to be able to hear what they were talking about. He was growing increasingly impatient. He should have gone looking for Kai himself.

When the Captain turned toward the carriage, he was wearing an infuriated albeit baffled frown. He licked his lips nervously before speaking. The king sensed trouble, so he opened the carriage door and stepped outside.

Sehun followed immediately. It felt good to stretch his legs after so many hours, but he did not enjoy the relief for too long.

“Where is he?” his father demanded the Captain.

“The men tell me that… the boy refused, Your Grace,” said the Captain.

Sehun’s jaw fell slack, and he looked to his father who looked to him. “What do you mean _refused_?” his father asked.

The Captain beckoned the guards over. “He said that,” one of the guards began. “if you want to see him, you should… go to him. He would not be summoned by us.”

Sehun was shocked to hear that. “It must be a mistake,” he blurted out. “Have you told him who’s summoning him?”

“Yes, Your Highness,” said the guard. He looked to Sehun’s father again. “We… told him that it was His Majesty that wishes to see him at the gates.”

“And what did he say?” Sehun’s father asked.

The guard hesitated to answer now. “He quipped that… it did not mean you could grow horns on your… head, My King.”

Sehun gaped at the guard for a moment before he turned to his father, whose eyebrows had dropped. “Father, this is some sort of misunderstanding,” he said desperately. “Let me go and see him. He might be in the middle of exams or classes.”

His father heaved a breath. “Perhaps you are right.” He turned around, scratching his beard. “We can come back tomorrow.”

 _Tomorrow?!_ Sehun could not possibly wait that long. He was already shaking with agitation.

“Your Majesty,” the Captain called. “We could report to the headmaster of the college of the boy’s insolence and demand his audience.”

Sehun frowned. He did not want Kai to get in trouble because of him.

Fortunately, his father waved his hand. “No, that would not be necessary,” he said. “He will come and see us when he sees fit. I am not here as a king, but as my son’s father. There is no need to report him.”

He took hold of Sehun’s elbow and climbed back into the carriage. Sehun wanted to protest, but he did not.

They started for the Palace of Agaar. His mother had plenty to say on this brief ride. She was greatly piqued about Kai’s audacity to refuse them. Sehun’s father told her that it was probably some misunderstanding. They were both too tired to argue any further.

Sehun had slumped in his seat, disheartened. He had expected to meet Kai today. He could not understand why Kai would refuse to see him. Did the guards even tell him that Sehun was here? It must be the guards’ fault.

He decided not to say anything. His parents were tired, and so was he.

* * *

They were well-received by the royal family of Agaar, though the visit had surprised them. Their children, Hina and Haru greeted them politely when they were introduced. The little boy was shier than Princess Hina. He constantly hid behind his mother’s dress.

They welcomed them with a hearty meal. Sehun ate as gracefully as he could, but he was famished. On the road, he had eaten nothing but stale bread and dried fruits. The Captain had advised them against spending any night at lodges and roadside inns. It was not safe, he had said. There were bandits and marauders on these roads.

After lunch, Sehun was escorted by a servant to a guest room, where he promptly dove into the bath that was drawn for him. Taeyong tried to console him, but Sehun was not consoled. It really sucked. But he appreciated Taeyong’s being here. Later, he settled on the bed and took a well-deserved nap to rest his spine. He told Taeyong that he could go and rest now, too. Although he was upset and disappointed that he had not gotten to see Kai today as he had hoped for, he still managed to sleep like a baby that afternoon.

He roused again in the evening just as the sun began to sink in the horizon. Agaar’s climate was not as warm and arid as Nairth. Springtime was much colder up here. Sehun sat up and looked around the room he was given. There was an oil lamp on the dresser, allowing for a faint light.

Climbing out of the bed, he pulled on his boots and wended his way out of the room.

As he made his way down the stairs, the servants who walked past him bowed their heads. He smiled at them. The bath and the sleep had freshened him up. He was able to smile again.

“Prince Sehun,” he heard someone say as he wandered into a corridor. He turned around to meet the Agaarian Princess, who was walking towards him carrying a tray of brightly petalled flowers in her hands. “You have come down.”

“Please,” Sehun said quickly. It halted the princess with a start, and she stared at him, alarmed. Sehun realized that he was being ridiculous. Rubbing the back of his neck, he walked over to her with a smile. “I just need some air. I would really appreciate it if you do not alert anyone.”

She sighed in relief and then chortled. “Are you trying to sneak out of the palace?” she asked, seeing right through him.

Sehun looked at the floor, mortified. He thought of asking what the flowers were for, but he was still too embarrassed to speak.

“I heard why you are here,” said Princess Hina. “Might I be a complicit in your crime?”

Sehun found her amusing. She reminded him of Areum, only Hina was less loud and more polite. “You will help me?” he asked.

She looked to the guard who was the closest to her. He hurried over to her at once and bowed. “Will you take Prince Sehun to the stables and find him a saddled horse? And please accompany him to wherever he wishes to go.”

Sehun was not sure if he were appalled or impressed. He and his siblings could never give out such orders back at his own palace. He most definitely did not have the prerogative to issue commands to the guards to favour his no-good schemes against his father’s orders. The only person who sometimes got away with twisting the guards’ arms was Jaein. But that was only because their father was most lenient with Jaein that he almost never acknowledged Jaein’s frequent absence and truancy, and because he was the future king of Nairth. Or at least his sons would be if their father outlived Jaein.

Jaein bunked off a lot. He was rarely at home. Nobody really knew what he was up to when he was away, or where he was. Everyone stopped asking after a while because Jaein’s answer was always, “Duties.”

Yejun had the theory that Jaein was away trysting with a lover. He also said that the truth would soon see the light when Jaein would inevitably bring home a peasant girl with a swollen belly. The queen had smacked him in the head with a sweet potato roll for saying that.

Not even his brother would have helped Sehun sneak away in the evening to see a lover. “It’s too dangerous,” he’d say, Sehun was sure. “Over my dead body.”

Yejun, on the other hand, would threaten to report the guards who indulged his stupid little brother’s stupid requests. Areum would simply just call him an idiot for even thinking of doing such a thing, but she would find it all incredibly romantic. His two other sisters who were already married off would snitch on him to their father. They would all claim that it was for his best.

Sehun did not feel like refusing Princess Hina’s offer because he was desperate. He was desperate _enough_ to not to think of the ways this could end badly. He was in a city he was not really all that familiar with, and he was planning on wandering its streets after dark.

He could not just sit idly and wait, though. Not when he knew that he was in the same city as Kai, and they were only a few _minutes_ away from each other.

He could even see the college from the corridor. Its towers were lit up.

“I cannot thank you enough, Princess Hina,” he said. “I hear that you will be getting married come June. I am glad that I get to congratulate you in person.”

Her cheeks turned rosy. “Thank you,” she said. “And I am… sorry about your wedding.”

Sehun shrugged. “I am not.”

She smiled. “You must be very brave to go after what your heart desires.”

Sehun blinked. He wondered if she spoke with grievance. He did not ask because it was not his place to prod. But also because if the princess was given the authority to command the guards, she probably was given the freedom to choose her own husband. The way she had blushed told Sehun that she was very content with her engagement to the Crown Prince of Samor.

The guard led him to the stables where he promptly found him a horse. He helped Sehun mount the horse, though Sehun did not really any help, before he climbed onto the back of his own steed.

“Where would you like to go, Your Highness?” the guard asked. He was younger than the other guards at the palace. Sehun thought. He could not really tell for sure under the helmet.

“The college,” said Sehun. The guard bowed his head and rode ahead to lead the way.

Sehun hoped dearly that Princess Hina would not tell on him. He would be in hot water if his parents, especially his mother, found out that he had snuck off to see Kai without their knowledge or permission.

* * *

“It is time to celebrate!” Jaehyun exclaimed as he laced up his riding boots. Kai ran a hand through his hair to push back and out of his face. “And that means booze and a good lay. I would not say no to an orgy.”

Yuri grimaced at him from where he was sitting on Kai’s bed with crossed legs. “I would like to drink,” he said. “but I will pass on the orgy, thank you very much.”

“You know nothing about _living_ , specky,” scoffed Jaehyun, jolting up to his feet. He walked over to Kai and raised his elbow to rest in on Kai’s shoulder. “What about you? I’ll even throw in _my_ coins.”

Kai sighed. He shook his head, even though he was in a _very_ celebratory mood. But he could not afford a scandal now. His mother’s men could be here any day to take him home, and Egeryn was here, too. The vultures were officially circling him. But Egeryn had come this far. For him. For Sehun. And that meant Kai had all the power now. He needed to play his cards right now.

“Really?” grumbled Jaehyun, pulling away from Kai. “Since when do you no to a good fuck at the whorehouse?”

Since he had found out that revenge was more sating than any good fuck. He was hungry, he was aroused. But for vengeance.

As he sauntered out of his dorm room with his two best friends, he thought about the fact that Egeryn had come all the way here for his son’s sake. He was a good father. Too bad he was a rotten human being.

Sometimes, he even wondered if someone like Egeryn even had the stomach to poison a man to his death. He convinced himself that all men hid secrets. Especially men like Egeryn. You could never tell the bad eggs from the good until you break them.

“You never said who had come looking for you earlier today,” Yuri said as they made their way down the tower.

“It was King Egeryn,” said Kai.

Both Yuri and Jaehyun stopped dead. Kai glanced back at them with a raised brow. “King Egeryn?” echoed Jaehyun.

“Whatever for?” asked Yuri.

Kai shrugged. “I don’t know,” he said nonchalantly. “I did not see him.”

“Why not?”

“I did not feel like it.”

His friends were quiet for a moment. Then Yuri snapped. “Have you gone mad?!”

Jaehyun, on the other hand, was fixing him with a grave look.

“Why did he come here?!” rasped Yuri anxiously. Jaehyun continued to stay silent, glaring at Kai. “Did you break something of his at the palace?”

“I sucked his son’s cock before fucked his face,” Kai said and strode past them, starting for the gates. They would usually need to climb the walls if it was past curfew, but since they were officially done with school, he doubted anybody cared about what they were up to.

Yuri only spoke after some length. “You’ve got to be joking,” he let out in disbelief.

“You’re the reason… Sehun refused to marry my brother,” Jaehyun said.

Kai looked back at him. “Now you’re all caught up.”

“You’re a fucking wanker!” Jaehyun growled, shoving him back by the chest. “Why would you even do such a thing?”

“Because I want Prince Sehun to myself.”

Jaehyun was dumbstruck for a moment. “You are already betrothed to someone else!”

“I did not say I was going to _marry_ Prince Sehun.”

Jaehyun’s expression turned rancid. “You are barking mad.”

“Relax,” Kai told him. “Sehun would have hated your brother regardless.”

Jaehyun seemed to cool off a bit. “I know but… you could have told us. That you were after Sehun.”

Yuri was still gaping at him wordlessly. He was seriously taken aback. When he finally found his voice, he said, “You broke them up.”

“I did him a favour,” said Kai.

“D-Do you think King Egeryn is here to… have your… arms?”

“I doubt it,” said Jaehyun. “He is a prince after all.”

“Does Egeryn even know that?”

They did not have the answer to that.

“I can’t believe Sehun called off the wedding for… you,” said Jaehyun. “You’re the reason he said he’d come to Agaar. He must be here right now!”

He probably was, Kai thought. He was not sure why the idea of seeing Sehun again excited him. It was probably revenge-related.

“Of all the people,” Jaehyun said. “I cannot believe he fell for you.”

“What’s wrong with me?” asked Kai, scoffing.

Jaehyun scratched his head. “I guess nothing is really wrong with _you_ per se. But you are still set to marry the Princess of Agaar.”

“And I will,” said Kai. “She’d make a fine queen.”

“What about Prince Sehun, then?” asked Yuri, frowning.

“He’d make a fine bed warmer,” said Kai, shrugging again.

“Please tell me you are kidding,” said Jaehyun. “I do not think Sehun is the type who would be satisfied with that title. And neither is his father.”

Kai exhaled heavily. “Calm down. I am not in the mood to marry anyone at the moment. I already have too much on my plate.”

That was true. He did not think that he even wanted to marry Princess Hina of Agaar. Even before he met Sehun, he had decided that he would convince his mother to let him remain a bachelor until he was ready. She would have to listen, anyway. He’d be the king.

Two horses that pulled up at the gates averted their attention. Kai recognized the guard from the palace instantly. His eyes narrowed as he wondered what the guard was doing here after nightfall.

Had the king sent for him? Or did Egeryn send for him? Kai figured Egeryn would be staying with at the Palace of Agaar during his visit.

But there was a second rider, and he was not in liveries and helmets. Yuri gasped before Kai could even take a better look. He could spot the yellow eyes of a soaring goshawk in the sky with those glasses of his.

“It’s… Prince Sehun,” he said.

“What?” Jaehyun muttered. “You are mistaken. It could not be him. Where are his guards?”

Kai started for the gates. The college guards opened the gates for the guard to enter. His heart pounded lightly as he realized it was indeed on the second horse.

Sehun dismounted and followed the palace guard past the gates. He looked nervous and jumpy, and he would not stop gawking at the towers. It took him a moment to notice the small group of boys standing in the foyer.

He jerked to a stop, eyes bulging out as if they were trying to look closer.

* * *

He thought that he would run into Kai’s arms. Or rather he would run over to him and throw _his_ arms around Kai. Pounce him, then kiss him. Kiss him so hard until they would both tumble to the ground. Sehun would not pull away even then. They’d kiss some more.

But all that he could do now was stare stupidly at Kai. His feet would not move anymore. Nothing of his would move. He had found Kai sooner and more easily than he had thought.

 _Go to him,_ he begged himself. _Don’t just stand there like a moron._ He was starting to sound like Yejun. He tried to take a breath and manage a smile. He could do neither.

It was almost as though he and Kai had not spent that night doing all those obscene deeds to each other. Why was he so shy now? No, no. It was not embarrassment. It was just the sudden realization that he had fallen in love after all. And he did not know how to acknowledge that.

Even the mere sight of him stopped Sehun’s heart. Would this feeling last forever? Would it fizzle out eventually? It kinda hurt. A pleasant, inviting pain that made Sehun’s chest hurt. Did Kai feel the same way?

Kai started walking towards him. He wore an easy smile. He did not look surprised at all. Jaehyun and Yuri did, though. They did not follow Kai, who was approaching Sehun.

Sehun quickly looked for his voice. He did not want to falter like a dolt in front of Kai.

“Your Highness,” Kai called him. Sehun had been called this his whole life. But when Kai said it, it sounded like an endearment bordering on mockery. “Are you lost?” he asked, stopping before Sehun.

He was an arm’s length away. Sehun’s breathing quickened, but not visibly. He could reach out and pull Kai into his arms. He did not.

“I… cancelled the wedding,” Sehun said. It sounded like a good place to start. Kai would ask why and Sehun would tell him that it was because Daewon was a jerk. Kai would then ask if it was all. Sehun would then tell him that it was not all. Then maybe he would tell Kai that he loved him.

“I heard,” Kai said.

Of course. Jaehyun.

Kai was still smiling. “We were just going out for a drink,” he told Sehun. “Would you like to join us?”

Sehun chewed on his lower lip for a moment and shook his head. “I am not supposed to be out here.”

“And yet here you are,” said Kai. He was right. Sehun wondered if Kai’s rebelliousness had rub off on him, too. Did he have a taste for doing things he should not be doing now? This was the second time he had snuck away.

Kai took his hand. Sehun froze, his fingers trembling in Kai’s light grip. “I’m glad you came here, Sehun,” he said, his voice a low rumble. Sehun would have melted if he could. He let Kai hold his hand. He would not pull it back even if a horde of wild horses dragged him away.

“I… came here to see you,” Sehun admitted. He must be blushing because Kai was smirking.

“I know,” he said.

He knew.

Sehun wondered if it were okay for them to hold hands here. Not many countries were as progressive as Nairth. Some even stoned men who took male lovers, and women who loved women, to death. It must be okay here because even as they made their way past the gates and started for streets of the city, Kai did not let go of Sehun’s hand.

Yuri and Jaehyun smiled and said hello, but then they were lost in their own thoughts as they strode ahead. Sehun told himself to give Prince Jaehyun an explanation later so that he would not feel slighted about Sehun not wanting to marry his brother only to cosy up with his best friend.


	12. Chapter 12

He was restless. He had told the palace guard to turn back and that he did not need to wait, but he kept expecting to find guards at every corner. Every time he turned with a start when he heard horse hooves thudding on the ground, Kai would give his hand a reassuring squeeze.

“Relax,” he said at some point as they dawdled through the street. “No one is looking for you.”

Not yet, Sehun thought. If his absence were noted, his father would mobilize every guard at his disposal to find Sehun and bring him back. And Sehun did not particularly want to go back right now. He did not want to leave Kai so soon.

“Look around you,” said Kai. “The night is beautiful. The city is beautiful. And… I’m here. Why don’t you relax and enjoy?”

Sehun’s breathing calmed as he finally glanced around, not to look out for guards, but to just… look. At the shops, the streetlamps, the starry evening sky, the robed pedestrians, the grubby stray cats. No one, not even the cats, seemed to look in Sehun’s way. Here, no one would recognize him. He could do and be whatever he wanted.

He tightened his hand around Kai’s as a small smile tugged at the corners of his lips. “This _is_ … beautiful,” he muttered.

Kai smiled back. “I’m glad you’re here,” he said.

Sehun looked ahead at Jaehyun and Yuri, who were way out of earshot now. “You told your friends,” he said. He had not meant for it to sound like an accusation, but he supposed it was too late now.

“I… just did,” said Kai.

“What exactly… did you tell them?”

Sehun was not sure how the conversation could have transpired. Did Jaehyun get upset? Would he hold it against Kai for ruining his brother’s wedding? Even though Kai was not really to be blamed here.

Kai shrugged in response. “Not much,” he said. “You got here before I could… elaborate.”

“Oh.” Sehun hoped that he did not seem like a lovesick teenager, sneaking out at night to see his lover in secret. “We came earlier. To see you.”

“I know.”

“The guards said that you refused to see my father.”

“I did.”

Sehun stopped and blinked at Kai, his fingers turning clammy around Kai’s. “Why?” he asked. He had hoped that it was all a misunderstanding. “Did we… interrupt you while you were in the middle of something?”

“Well, I was about to stuff my face with some cornbread when your father’s guards showed up,” said Kai with the same nonchalance that both enamoured Sehun and baffled him. Kai sighed, discerning the perplexing expression in Sehun’s face. “He might be a king, but he isn’t _my_ king. I am not some common shop boy your father can summon at will, Sehun.”

Sehun’s heartbeat quickened then. “Of course, you’re not,” he said quickly, noticing the irritation in Kai’s tone. “Oh, God.” He paused for a moment, gnawing at his lower lip. Kai withdrew his hand and arched an eyebrow. “Kai,” he blurted out nervously. “I am so sorry we offended you. We should have just come to you personally. I apologize on my father’s behalf for sending the guards instead.”

He did not want Kai to mistake him. He would never insult Kai like that. He was in the wrong, his father was in the wrong.

“I knew that there was a reasonable explanation for why you did not come to see us,” Sehun then said, hoping that his apology would placate Kai’s indignation. “I’m sorry.” He hung his head.

Kai touched his chin and raised his head to meet his eyes. Much to Sehun’s relief, he was smiling again. “You don’t have to apologize,” he said. Sehun tried not to let his lips quiver as Kai lightly brushed his thumb against the skin beneath his bottom lip. “I knew you had come for me. Trust me… I want to run to you the instant I knew you were here. But… I do not wish to be treated like your father’s servant.”

Sehun frowned deeply. He closed the distance between them and fisted a hand around Kai’s shirt. “Please, don’t say such things. I would never treat you nor would I let my father treat you like so.”

Kai took a step back and gave a curt nod of his head. “That’s comforting to know,” he said. With an almost sly smirk playing on his lips, he took hold of Sehun’s hand again.

They had lost sight of Yuri and Jaehyun. When Sehun asked Kai about them, he said that they would be at the tavern, which was where they were heading towards.

The Timeless Tavern. Sehun had never been to a tavern. It seemed like Kai and his friends frequented this tavern. He envied Prince Jaehyun. In spite of being born a royalty, Jaehyun had the freedom Sehun never had. Everything that Sehun knew and learned about came from within the walls of his palace. But real knowledge and wisdom did not come from the pages of a book. It was lived, experienced, savoured from being forced to contend with the challenges of life.

Sehun had been sheltered and mollycoddled all his life, shielded from everything that was interesting and adventurous. Perhaps the real living had yet to begin for him. Perhaps it was still not too late for him. Perhaps he needed someone like Kai in his life to expose him to all the fun experiences. To grab life by the throat.

Since the day he had met Kai, he had been experiencing and doing all the things that he never thought he would. One of those things was walking into a tavern that was thronging with of all sorts of debauched men and women, guzzling cheap ale, flinging curses at one another, groping at everything they could get their hands on, slapping each other on their backs, making absurd wagers, and tearing into herby, roasted pheasant meat.

It was definitely not one of the finer establishments in Agaar, but Sehun was exhilarated all the same.

They found Jaehyun and Yuri at a table, already nursing tankards in their hands. Sehun could not stop turning his head. He wanted to look at everything, everyone. There was just too much to see. Too much going on around him.

“It’s not the nicest place for a drink,” said Kai as he pulled up a stool for Sehun before he took his own seat. “But it’s cheap.”

Sehun blinked at the other boys. “Aren’t you all wealthy?” he asked. He knew for certain that Jaehyun was.

“The college monitors our finances,” said Yuri, speaking up for the first time since they left the college gates. He shoved the glasses up his nose and took another swig of his ale. “We’re given allowances. Everyone gets the same amount.”

“Oh.”

“The college practises equal treatment among all the students,” said Kai, waving at the tavernkeeper, who winked back at him, as though she tacitly heard Kai’s order.

“But we do blow most of our allowances in brothels,” said Jaehyun, slamming an empty tankard on the table after draining it.

Sehun stilled in his seat uncomfortably. Yuri continued to drink until his cheeks were flushed red.

“Not me,” he muttered, wiping his lips on the back of his hand.

“No, not you,” Jaehyun scoffed, throwing an arm over Yuri’s shoulders. He looked sharply at Kai then. “But Kai and I… Well, there isn’t a brothel in Agaar we’re a stranger to. Kai, in particular, is a very generous tipper, aren’t you, Kai?”

Sehun glanced at Kai, whose easy expression was replaced with a hard, scowling one. His narrowed eyes were fixated on Jaehyun, who shrugged and casually ordered a pitcher of black mead.

The tavernkeeper sashayed over with an overflowing pitcher and two more tankards.

“Beautiful as ever, Jeanie,” Jaehyun told the tavernkeeper.

She rolled her eyes and walked away. Kai slid a tankard over to Sehun after filling it with some mead.

“Isn’t she beautiful, Kai?” asked Jaehyun.

“Average,” Kai said dully before he downed a whole tankard of mead.

Sehun stared at him in awe for a moment before he looked into his own tankard. “Mine is only halfway filled,” he pointed out.

“I don’t think you can handle it, Sehun,” said Kai.

Sehun frowned, looking back into the tankard.

“Average, he says!” scoffed Jaehyun. “Weren’t you the one who couldn’t shut up about how you two had–”

“Jaehyun,” Kai cut him off with a low growl.

Jaehyun scoffed once more and looked away. He looked annoyed.

Sehun was not entirely sure what was going on, but he decided not to ask. He tried tasting the mead. It was foul. It tasted nothing like any of the wines. He swallowed with difficulty, his face crumpling in discomfort.

“How is it?” Kai asked, chuckling a little.

Sehun licked his lips and said, “It’s not so bad. But I most certainly can handle it.”

Kai’s eyebrows rose. “Really?”

Sehun nodded and reached for the pitcher. He filled his tankard all the way to the top. Kai raised his hands in defeat and smiled.

“Chug it, Sehun,” Jaehyun told him.

“Do not chug,” Kai said. He sounded like Sehun’s family, looking out for him, which was unlike him.

“Why not?” asked Sehun.

“You won’t be able to handle it,” Kai said again.

Sehun huffed. “I’ll show you.” He picked the tankard up in both hands and sucked in a deep breath before he started quaffing the mead without stopping to take a breath.

“Sehun,” Kai groaned, trying to tear the tankard away from his hands.

Sehun did not let him. Jaehyun was cheering him on, and Yuri was gawking at him in shock. Without sparing even a drop of the mead, Sehun slammed the tankard back on the table and coughed a few times, almost heaving.

But he did not. He managed to keep the drink down. Wiping his mouth, he looked to Kai with a proud grin. “See?” he said. “I can handle it.”

Kai laughed and patted his back lightly. “I can see that,” he said. His hand slid down Sehun’s spine and settled on the small of his back.

Sehun then hiccupped and clenched his eyes momentarily. The mead went straight to his head.

“That’s pretty amazing,” said Jaehyun, raising his tankard to congratulate Sehun, who was not feeling all that amazing himself.

The mead was tossing and lurching in his stomach, and the sharp aftertaste continued to linger in his mouth.

“How did your finals fare?” Sehun asked, drawling a little. He hiccupped again.

“It went all right,” answered Yuri. “I am just glad that it is all over now.”

“What will you do now?” asked Sehun.

“Go home, I guess.”

Sehun looked to Kai then. “Will you go home, too?”

Kai was silent for a moment, drinking his mead. Jaehyun rose from his seat and wandered away, looking for the loo. Yuri went after him.

“Yeah,” Kai said at length.

Sehun was mustering the courage to tell Kai about the purpose of his visit. But he had never asked anyone’s hand in marriage, so he was not sure how to go about asking for Kai’s hand. Perhaps it would be better to just let his parents take care of it. But if Kai had felt slighted by what happened earlier, Sehun did not want to spring this on him out of nowhere. He thought that it would be better if he gave Kai a fair bit of forewarning.

His head was spinning a little as he tried to think of a way to tell Kai that he wished to marry him.

“When are you leaving?” Sehun asked.

“Any day now.”

“You don’t live in the city?”

Kai hesitated to answer, but he eventually shook his head.

Sehun took a few breaths. He hated how his life lately had been a constant ‘ _to-speak-or-to-die’_ dilemma.

“Sehun,” Kai then called. Sehun watched him with heavy eyes. He was going to regret chugging that mead for the rest of his life, wasn’t he?

“Yes?”

Kai cleared his throat and lowered his gaze. “About what Jaehyun said…”

Sehun turned away, too. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “I don’t… care about that.”

“Are you sure?”

Sehun kept mum. He knew that it would not be right for him to ask Kai about his romantic past. Kai had not asked his, had he? Even though it was crystal clear that Sehun had very limited experience in the field.

Kai took his hand under the table. “None of it meant anything,” he said. “The brothels, the harlots… They were all just… a pastime.”

Sehun could not understand how such a thing could be a pastime, but he was not like the other boys. This was how boys were, weren’t they? Chasing a good time, honing their skills, preening themselves on their conquests. Sehun understood. He did not think it was wrong or unlawful. He would not begrudge Kai for just… being an ordinary boy, wanting the ordinary things boys wanted. Had Sehun not been shielded, perhaps he too would have acquired those things.

“I understand,” he said. “You don’t have to explain anything.”

“I was not explaining,” said Kai. “I’m just making sure that you are not upset about it.”

“I’m not,” said Sehun. “It was your past.”

“And what if it’s my present, too?”

Sehun looked down at their clasped hands. “Is… it?”

“What if it is?”

Sehun frankly did not know what the answer was. Was there a right answer? Was Kai looking for the right answer? What if this was a test? That Kai was just testing him?

What if it wasn’t? How would Sehun feel about it then? He was not particularly fond of the idea of sharing Kai with anyone else. But it was a hypothetical situation, and he could not quite grasp what his reaction might be if it were a real situation.

“I won’t be very… happy about it,” he decided to say. It was a diplomatic answer.

“Why not?” Kai asked.

Sehun’s face was either burning from the mead or his embarrassment. “Because…”

Kai’s hand was now on his thigh. Sehun exhaled shakily as he stared the hand that was slowly sliding up his thigh. “Because?” Kai was so close that Sehun could now smell the mead in his breath.

He anxiously looked around the tavern to see if anyone was looking at them. No one was.

“Because I… I don’t want you to be… someone else’s,” said Sehun.

Kai was smiling, Sehun could tell even without looking at him. “Does that mean you want me to be _yours_ , Your Highness?”

Sehun caught Kai’s hand before it could go too far. “You are teasing me,” he said breathlessly.

“And you are enjoying it.”

Sehun turned redder.

“I never stopped thinking about that night,” Kai admitted in a whisper, his lips almost brushing Sehun’s ear. “Mostly because… it was not enough.”

Sehun’s breathing trembled. He was glad when Jaehyun and Yuri returned to the table, though part of him wished that Kai had continued to tease him.

“So, Sehun,” Jaehyun said. “this is the reason you called off the wedding, huh?”

Sehun said nothing. He should try to explain himself, but he doubted that Jaehyun, as sloshed as he was, would be able to pay any attention.

“I hope you realize that my beloved friend here isn’t really the kind of stallions you can tie down,” said Jaehyun.

“Jaehyun,” Kai protested with a sigh. “You’re too drunk. Maybe you should go back to the dormitories.”

“I’m happy for you, buddy!” Jaehyun exclaimed. He did not look too happy, even though he was grinning from ear to ear. “All I ever wanted is for you to find the one you would be happy with. And it looks like you did. I knew you would never be happy with her.”

Kai was grimacing at Jaehyun now. “What the hell are you talking about?”

“I don’t know,” drawled Jaehyun, dropping his head on the table. “I think I should go.”

“Yeah, I think so, too.”

“Maybe I can take him back,” offered Yuri, frowning at the teetering Jaehyun.

“I want to go to the whorehouse,” announced Jaehyun as Yuri tried to take his arm.

“You are going to bed,” puffed Yuri, yanking Jaehyun to his feet. “It was nice seeing you again, Sehun.”

“Oh, yes,” said Jaehyun. “Very nice indeed. I’m sure we’ll meet again soon.”

Sehun did not get a chance to say goodbye as Yuri hauled Jaehyun away and out of the tavern. “Is he… going to be okay?” he asked, frowning.

“Yes,” said Kai, rising from his seat. “He’s just drunk.”

Sehun stood up with Kai and followed him outside. Back on the street, Sehun quickly glanced around. No sign of palace guards. He sighed in relief.

Kai started walking away with his hands in the pockets of his trousers. “Where are we going now?” asked Sehun.

“We’re getting some air,” said Kai.

Sehun quietly followed. He enjoyed the Agaarian night air. It was colder and crispier than Nairth, and it was helping his spinning head.

The streets were emptier than they were before. Sehun wondered if now would be the perfect time to ask Kai to marry him. He tried to play out the different scenarios in his head. What if Kai rejected him? How was Sehun going to react to that? He would cry, most likely. What if Kai said yes? What if Kai was not ready for marriage? What if Sehun was way over his head?

“Kai,” he called.

Kai did not respond as he gazed up at the sky.

Sehun fell silent again. What was Kai brooding about?

“I can walk you back to the palace,” Kai said at some point. “It’s not that far.”

Sehun chewed on the inside of his cheek. Would it sound desperate if he told Kai that he did not want to go back so soon? He wanted to spend a little more time with Kai.

“Okay,” he said instead.

Kai stopped and pointed ahead. “Ah. There is a carriage over there. We could hire it. The driver would take you straight to the palace.”

“Okay,” Sehun said again, though he did not sound all that enthusiastic. He did not want to impose. Perhaps Kai had other plans for the night, and Sehun was being a hindrance.

He came to a halt in his tracks, however. Noticing that he had stopped, Kai turned to him.

“I meant what I said,” Sehun muttered. Kai blinked. “I… don’t… want you to… be someone else’s.”

Kai’s eyebrows furrowed. “I’m not yours.”

“I know,” Sehun said. His heart was pounding. “But… I want you to be.”

Kai’s frown faded, his eyebrows rising in surprise. “What?”

“I _do_ want you to be mine.” Oh, God. He was doing it. He was actually saying it. “Whether you were teasing me or not, I meant it.”

Kai rubbed the back of his neck, looking away for a moment. “Sehun–”

“You don’t have to say anything,” Sehun said, sensing impending disappointment. He had a hard time speaking with the thick lump in his throat. “Not right away. I did not stop my marriage to Prince Daewon because of you. I did it… for me. But I did come to Agaar… for you.”

Kai heaved a sigh. “Sehun, I–”

“No, you don’t need to answer now.” His voice was breaking. “Maybe you don’t have to answer at all. I did not ask you a question. It was not a request. So, please, don’t feel obligated to–”

“Will you just listen to me?” Kai huffed then. Sehun pursed his lips. Walking over to Sehun, Kai cupped a side of his face in a hand and stared into Sehun’s eyes. “What if… I’m not the man you thought I was?”

Sehun had no clue whatsoever what that meant. He stared back at Kai confusedly. “But… you are the man you show me. And that’s what I… want.”

Something shifted in Kai’s expression. It was akin to astonishment but also to bafflement. It did not last very long. His face quickly returned to his usual blasé mien.

“I have many flaws,” said Kai.

“So do I.”

“Your family would never… approve of me.”

“They would. Father approved.”

“For now. But what if he does not in the foreseeable future? What if your family does not accept me? What if they forbid us from being together?”

“I don’t care,” Sehun said it without even thinking about it. It shocked him, too. Did he mean what he said? Probably. At least to some extent. If his family would not approve of Kai without any credible reason, then Sehun would most definitely not side with his family. If they cared at all about his happiness, then they would be the wind beneath his wings. Not the ones to clip them.

Kai curled his hand around the nape of Sehun’s neck. “You do not mean that,” he said.

“It is about what… _I_ want. I won’t let them decide for me again,” Sehun said. Was it the mead that was giving him the courage to speak so brazenly? Would he feel the same way when the morning came?

“I don’t think you will,” said Kai, pressing their foreheads together.

“Kai…”

“I just want you to know that whatever I did, I did it for… a reason.” With that, he pulled away and started toward the carriage. Sehun stood there for a moment, eyes blinking languidly. He watched Kai hand the carriage driver some coins before he dragged his feet over to him.

“He will take you straight to the palace,” Kai told him.

Sehun looked at him forlornly. “All right,” he said. He was still confused. He hoped that everything that Kai had said would make better sense in the light of day.

Kai smiled and leaned in to brush a kiss on Sehun’s cheek. Sehun caught his shirt before Kai could pull away. “Are you… saying no?” he asked, even though he had told Kai that he did not expect an answer. “Do you not want me?”

“Sehun,” Kai exhaled. “before I answer that, I want you to be sure of how much… _you_ want this _._ ”

“Haven’t I already made myself clear?” Sehun said. “What do you think I’m doing here if I don’t know how much I want this?”

Kai nodded. “Then we shall see,” he said. Sehun was tired of these riddles. He did not ask Kai anything more as he climbed into the back of the carriage. He hugged his knees to his chest and frowned sadly at Kai as the carriage rode away.

* * *

Sehun woke with a slight throb in his head.

“It seems like you’ve had quite a bit of fun last night, Your Highness,” Taeyong said while he helped Sehun get dressed in the morning.

Sehun turned around and faced the servant boy. “How did you–”

“I saw you ride past the gates with the guard,” he said. “I reckon that you went to see Kai.”

Sehun blushed. “I think that’s enough,” he said, pulling his arm away from Taeyong who was tightening the laces on his sleeve.

Taeyong smiled. “Was he happy to see you?”

Sehun nodded.

“Then why do you look upset, My Prince?”

Sehun took a seat on the bed. “I do not know what to make of it,” he admitted. “Kai does not… trust me.”

“What do you mean?”

“He thinks that I would not… fight for him. That in the end, I would listen to my family.”

“Well, why wouldn’t you?”

Sehun made a face. “I love them, but do I have to listen them all the time? They are not always right about what’s best for me. They thought that Daewon was right for me, but they were mistaken, weren’t they?”

“That’s true.”

“Besides,” Sehun said. “hasn’t Father already given us his blessing? There is nothing to worry about. So, I do not understand Kai’s reservations.”

“Maybe he has good reasons to worry,” said Taeyong. “Maybe his reasons do not necessarily have to make sense to you.”

There was some truth in it. Sehun could only hope that Kai would share the reasons for his misgivings with him.

“If his doubts are… proven to be valid,” said Sehun. “I would not stand and watch my family _forbid_ us from loving each other. We are hurting no one.”

“Eloping is always an option.”

The knock on the door interrupted them. It was a guard, who informed Sehun that he was being summoned by his father.

Sehun followed the guard down to the garden where he found his father, the Agaarian King and their wives.

The two kings were engaged in what seemed like a serious conversation.

“I know of the hearsays, Egeryn,” said the Agaarian King. “It was a long time ago. Let us write a new story. Perhaps now could be the chance for you two to get past your differences.”

“I highly doubt that she would agree,” Sehun’s father said, rubbing his eyebrows. “We will leave. We do not wish to be a burden to you. We should have sent you a missive before visiting.”

“What is going on?” Sehun asked his mother, joining her side.

She did not answer.

The Agaarian Queen answered, however. “The Queen Regent of Samor will be stopping by tomorrow, if her ship is not delayed. We plan on arranging an intimate celebration.”

“A celebration?” said Sehun.

“Yes. A banquet.”

So, that was what his father was discussing with the Agaarian King. “It’s best that we left,” his father said.

Sehun felt his heart drop. “Father,” he interjected. “It would be rude to leave when they are extending their invitation to us.” How could they leave when they had not even gotten what they had come for? His father had promised to speak with Kai’s family.

“Sehun,” his mother hissed, yanking him back by the elbow. “Hush.”

“I will make sure that there are no fiascos, Egeryn,” said the Agaarian King. “Do stay.”

They went back and forth for nearly an hour before Sehun’s father finally conceded defeat and sighed. He looked to his wife and asked, “Why do you think, Moira?”

Sehun pinned his mother with an anxious frown.

“It is your decision, My King,” she said.

Sehun’s horror must have been palpable in his face because his father smiled. “Very well,” he said. “We shall stay. We will… keep our distance from your family occasion.”

“What’s the occasion?” asked Sehun.

“The Prince of Samor is graduating from the college,” said the Agaarian King. “He’s to wed my daughter soon.” He sounded like he was swelling with pride.

The Crown Prince of Samor went to the same college as Kai, Jaehyun and Yuri?! Sehun nearly gasped. Why had they never spoken of him? He was usually the talk of every royal gathering. Every prince and princess swooned at the mention of his title. Some wanted to be him, others want to have him and the immense power that came with having him. He was apparently the most eligible bachelor in the realm with unimaginable assets and riches to his name. Sehun knew that part of the appeal was the prince being notoriously private and furtive. No one had even seen him in years. No one even really heard much about how or what he was doing now. But rumour had it that he had been incredibly handsome, cunning and a chip of the old block even as a teenager. Rumours they were, nothing more.

Sehun was thrilled to be able to finally meet the Crown Prince of Samor for himself. He knew that Areum would choke when he told her all about it. She was one of the princesses who would do anything to become the Queen of Samor. He could already picture her wailing for having missed her opportunity.


	13. Chapter 13

Jaehyun was lazily shoving a shirt into his trunk when Kai returned to the room their shared later that morning.

“You missed breakfast,” he said, walking over to his own desk to start packing his books. “We had soft-boiled eggs.”

With a heavy breath, Jaehyun gave the trunk a light kick before he plumped on the edge of his bed, head in his hands.

“Not feeling so good?” Kai asked.

Jaehyun brought his head up and frowned in his way. “I feel like there’s a storm in my head right now.”

“You got quite plastered last night,” scoffed Kai. He picked up a book and tossed into the open trunk on the floor.

“Not just that.” Jaehyun’s expression softened. “I recall… saying something stupid last night.”

“I do, too.”

“I’m… sorry about that.”

Kai shrugged.

“I’m just… confused, you know. And frustrated. Upset.”

“About what exactly?” Kai’s eyes narrowed then. “About me and Sehun? Jaehyun, he never liked your brother.”

“No, I know that,” said Jaehyun. “It’s just that… I didn’t know that he liked… _you_.”

“And that’s so bad?”

“No,” he said like he was not certain. “Not that it’s a bad thing to romance you. But what you said about… not wanting to marry Sehun. About keeping him as your… bed warmer.”

“And why should you care?”

“Is it going to be worth it? He doesn’t even know that you’re the Crown Prince of Samor. You’d be in for a lot of unnecessary conflicts for… _him_. It’s one thing that if you are in love with him, but it’s another if you are going to all this trouble just for an affair with him.”

Kai turned and faced him with his arms crossed over his chest. “You’re all over the place.”

“I know,” sighed Jaehyun, rising to his feet. “On the one hand, I want to try to be supportive. On the other, I don’t think I want to. I have also come to… care about Prince Sehun.”

Kai blinked then. “In… what way?”

“Not in that way.” Jaehyun rolled his eyes. “I mean, like a… friend.”

“I’m not going to hurt him, if that’s what you are worried about,” said Kai. “If he doesn’t want what I have to offer him, he can do whatever he wants to do. It’s not like I am going to rope him down. I’ll be honest with him.”

“Except that you aren’t, are you? You won’t tell him that you’re a prince. Why? Even now… you are keeping him in the dark.”

Kai licked his lips. “You damn well know why. You all know why. You just don’t want to say it out loud.”

“Kai,” Jaehyun exhaled. “We’ve all heard it. I don’t think it’s fair for them to hold it against you. You had nothing to do with any of it, even if it were true.”

It was true.

“The situation is… quite extraordinary when you think about it,” added Jaehyun. “Of all the people, Sehun had to…”

“Fall for the son of the man his father murdered?”

Jaehyun’s eyebrows furrowed low.

“And yet you wonder why I haven’t told him,” snorted Kai. “You honestly think that Egeryn and his family would welcome me with open arms if they had known who I really am? Do you think his son would want anything to do with me if he knew? He’d listen to his father, at the end of the day, no matter what.”

He turned and glowered at the window.

“I know the kind of man you are, Kai,” said Jaehyun at length. “And I know that you are not telling me everything.”

Kai felt Jaehyun’s hand on his shoulder.

“So, do you love Sehun?” he asked.

Kai did not answer immediately. He eventually shook his head. “I don’t think I’m capable of… such a thing.”

“First of all, I think that’s bullshit. Secondly, is Prince Sehun on the same page as you?”

Kai shook his head once more and turned around to meet his friend’s gaze. “But that’s not any of your business.”

He brushed past a frowning Jaehyun and returned to his trunk. “Kai–”

“Keep your nose out of it, Jaehyun.”

“I hope you aren’t leading Sehun on.”

Kai looked up at him, scowling. “Even if I am, like I said, it’s not any of your business.”

Jaehyun scoffed. “Kai, we’ve known each other for years. Do you really think that I can’t tell when you are deliberately trying to shut me out by being cold?”

Kai ignored him and busied himself at his wardrobe.

“Fine. Suit yourself,” said Jaehyun, throwing his hands up in defeat. “I will stay out of your affairs. I know that you did not mean it. If you… really like Sehun, you should go for it. But if it’s just a fling, you are just asking for trouble. After all, the rumours could be true.”

Kai turned to him. “Is this about your concern for Sehun’s wellbeing or mine?”

Jaehyun’s frown deepened. He did not look like he wanted to speak anymore.

“Are you worried that we might get hurt, or are you disappointed that you didn’t stand a chance?”

Jaehyun’s jaw tightened then. “You know what,” he spat. “Screw you, Kai.”

Kai did not try to stop him as he stormed out of the room with his hands fisted at his sides. They had had several spats over the years over even most trivial issues. In third year, Kai had put a fist through Jaehyun’s face. He received one in return, too. He no longer remembered what the row was even about. Somehow, Jaehyun always came back. It took Kai a long time before he accepted the boy as a friend and came to care for him. Probably not the way Jaehyun wanted him to, though.

He collapsed on his bed and threw an arm over his forehead. Tomorrow, they’d all leave this place. It was time for them to step into the real world and brave it. Every one of them had their responsibilities awaiting them on the other side of the college gates. Kai was yet to find out the magnitude of his.

Perhaps a revenge in the midst of all this right now was ill-advised. He might not be able to focus on all of it. But it was too late to turn back now. He had set his plot in motion, and it was thriving before him. Everything was falling into place, and he had Sehun’s wishful thinking to thank for that.

Last night, the boy had confessed more than what Kai had anticipated. For Sehun, this was not moving fast enough. For Kai, however, he was in the eye of the storm. Everything unravelled around him in at a brutal pace, and he barely had the leisure of enjoying it as it unfolded. It was all coming together, yet he somehow felt stranded.

He might even be as confused as Jaehyun was.

He had thought about, all night, what Sehun wanted from him. What would it take to keep him? A marriage. If Kai refused to give him that, he would lose Sehun along with Egeryn. He had not meant it when he said that he would keep Sehun as a bed warmer. He did not believe that he would even have that option.

He recalled the instant Sehun had asked him to be his last night. He remembered the way his heart had stopped momentarily. Kai had romanced others before. Some had begged him to stay when he would inevitably wash his hands of them. But none had so sincerely _requested_ for him to be theirs. The idea of being owned by someone both thrilled and baffled Kai. At the same time, he was even more enticed by the idea of owning someone else. Of owning Sehun. The son of Egeryn. The well-coveted bearer of Nairth, who was a bringer of luck.

Sehun was a bringer of luck, Kai supposed. If it weren’t for him, Kai never would have been able to hurt Egeryn where it would hurt him the most.

He would rob Egeryn of his most precious child. He would _own_ what Egeryn loved the most in the world. And Egeryn would writhe in pain while the son he held so dear knifed him in the heart.

Egeryn deserved worse. But this shall have to do for the time being.

Someone rapped on the door before sliding an enveloped letter through the slit under the door. Must be the warden. Kai rose from his bed to fetch the letter.

He recognized the seal immediately and opened the envelope. It was an invitation. From the King of Agaar. He huffed and tossed the invitation onto the desk after reading it. A banquet to celebrate his graduation.

His mother would be attending, according to the invitation. Perhaps she had informed him of her visit in one of the letters she had written him.

The cat was about to come out of the bag, he supposed. And he wanted it to be a marked spectacle. Egeryn’s agony would begin tomorrow.

* * *

Later that evening, the warden came up to his room again. Jaehyun had not returned. Kai was done packing his trunks. He was not sure when the guards would show up to escort him away from the college, but he supposed it would not take long now.

Wondering if they were already here to take him away, he opened the door and arched a brow at the short, plump warden.

“You have a visitor,” the warden said grouchily.

“A visitor?”

“He came with a guard from the palace.”

Sehun.

As Kai started for the stairs, the warden hurried after him. “Need I remind you that it is past curfew?” he said.

“It’s my last night here, Orgo,” Kai said. “Cut me some slack, will you?”

“You aren’t supposed to have any of your visitors in your rooms.”

Kai stopped and fished a coin out of his pocket. “Here.” He tossed it to the warden, who accepted it with a wide grin.

“He is waiting for you in the foyer.”

Kai wove his way down to the foyer, where he found Sehun, standing nervously, chewing on his lower lip, glancing around like he was expecting marauders to jump him out of the blue.

“Hey.”

Sehun turned around with a start but managed to quickly recompose himself upon realizing it was only Kai. “Oh, hi,” he muttered diffidently. He was surveying Kai’s face for signs of displeasure.

Kai gave him an easy, reassuring smile purposefully. Sehun relaxed then, mustering a small smile himself.

“Sorry,” Sehun murmured. “I should not have shown up without warning. I would understand if I’m troubling you.”

“No, you’re not,” Kai said. “But you probably are attracting a lot of attention showing up here with a palace guard.” He jerked his chin toward the guard, who was standing by the gates accompanying two horses.

Sehun looked embarrassed. “I am not familiar with the streets here.”

Kai sighed. “So, what are you here for?”

There was a faint hurt in Sehun’s eyes then. He curled his lip between his teeth and lowered his head. “Am I bothering you?”

“I just told you that you are not,” said Kai. He tried to keep his tone as light as he could, but Sehun looked unhappy, anyway.

“Are you doing anything tomorrow?” he asked.

Kai flinched and cleared his throat. Scratching his nape, he said, “Possibly.”

“Oh.” Sehun stared at the floor like he was searching for his words on it. He eventually raised his head. “I was wondering… if you… would like to show me the city tomorrow.”

Kai blinked. “But don’t you–” He stopped himself, realizing his mistake before it was too late. “Uh… It’s a pretty big city. People would probably start to wonder if you go missing for so long.”

Sehun face wilted even more. “Well, there’s this celebration at the palace tomorrow. No one would really notice if I’m gone. Even if they do, I can ask Taeyong to cover for me.”

“Taeyong’s here?”

“Yes.”

Perhaps that news would delight Jaehyun.

Sehun glanced toward the gates and frowned. “I should probably head back. I don’t want to make him wait for too long.”

“You came here just to tell me this? You could have just sent a message.”

Sehun nodded. “The last time I sent for you, you refused to see me, remember?”

There was some bitterness in Sehun’s tone. Kai found it amusing, frankly. He smirked. “I remember.”

“Well, I’ll get going then,” Sehun said, but he did not move. It was as though he were waiting for something. “You asked me if I’m sure.”

Kai slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers.

Sehun took a step forward toward him. “I _am_ sure,” he said, brows drawn together in a serious lour. He sounded sure. Very sure. It almost alarmed Kai. “You asked me to trust you. Now, I’m asking you to trust me. Answer me. Do you want this, or am I just… making a fool of myself?”

Kai took a heavy breath. “How about I answer that tomorrow?”

Sehun’s face lit up. “So, you’ll meet me tomorrow?”

“Certainly.” Kai tipped Sehun’s chin up with his fingers and gazed into his eyes with a smile. “And you shall have your answer tomorrow.”

“I’ll wait for you at the gates at dusk.”

Kai nodded.

Sehun was content to hear that, though he looked as impatient as ever. But he did not ask Kai for more as he drew away and started for the gates. When he glanced back once, Kai heaved a sigh.

He tried not to brood on Sehun’s visit for the rest of the night. He tried not to feel anything. Sehun was nothing but a pawn in this game. His role was vital, of course. But Kai’s target was the king. He could let himself get distracted by the pawn. He needed get through the pawn to get to the king.

He ended up thinking about Sehun for the rest of the night, regardless. He thought of the signs of little passive aggressions that Sehun exhibited from time to time, as though Kai were pushing his limits. He was most attractive during those times.

Sehun was also making a lot of delicious promises that Kai desperately wanted to test.

Jaehyun returned to the room shortly after midnight. He would have gotten an earful from the warden if he were caught.

As he fell on his bed on the other end of the room, Kai propped himself up on his elbows. “Leaving tomorrow?” he asked.

Jaehyun did not answer immediately. “Yeah,” he muttered at length. “You?”

“Yeah. I think.”

“You think?”

Kai dropped his head back on the pillow. “Taeyong’s here, too.”

“What?”

“He came with Sehun.”

“To see you?”

“No. I reckon he’s at the palace.”

“And why are you telling me this?”

“So, that you’d stop being a little shit.” He sat up and looked in Jaehyun’s way. “Truce?”

Jaehyun was scowling at him. “No. What’s the plan, Kai? And yeah, I know. You’re going to tell me that it’s none of my business. But you are… sort of my business.”

Kai rubbed his forehead. “Look,” he said. “I’m figuring this out as it goes. All that I know is that… I want Sehun in my life. And I know that he wants me. Whether that’s love or not, I don’t want to know that now. I think I already have enough obstacles.”

“Like your engagement to the Princess of Agaar?”

“One of them, yeah. Sehun will know everything tomorrow. After that, it’s up for him to decide. I won’t be sorry if he doesn’t want me anymore.”

Jaehyun scoffed. “You’re never sorry about anything.” He huffed. “All right. I’ll be your wingman like always. Even though I think it is a very bad idea.”

“I guess we’ll find out tomorrow,” said Kai. “There’s a banquet at the palace. I want you to go with me.”

“Are you insane? I do not wish to suffer the wrath of King Egeryn.”

“What happened to being my wingman? And you could see your servant boy again.”

Jaehyun glared at him. A moment later, he sighed. “Fine.”

* * *

“I’m going to miss you,” Yuri said, sniffling, as he threw his arms around Jaehyun, in spite of Jaehyun’s struggle to avoid a hug at all costs.

Grumbling, Jaehyun pulled back and patted Yuri on the top of his head. “We’ll visit,” he said. “And there’s Kai’s coronation.”

“I’ll send you an invitation,” Kai told Yuri.

Yuri wiped his nose with the sleeve of his tunic and nodded. “I had a good run with you two. I don’t think I would have survived this college if it weren’t for you.”

“You would have done just fine. We’re the ones who would not have survived if it weren’t for you,” said Kai. “You let us copy all of your homework.”

Yuri glanced back at his carriage that was loaded and read. He gave Kai a hug before he turned and climbed into the carriage. “I’ll write to you both!” he exclaimed as the carriage driver closed the door.

Kai smiled with his hands in his pockets. As soon as the carriage rolled away, he turned on his heel along with Jaehyun. They paused when another carriage pulled over.

It was bearing the Agaarian crest, but the uniformed guard who climbed out of it carried the Samorian crest on his chest. Kai froze in his tracks, realizing that it was Yaren. He still had that sour glower permanently etched to his face. He had not changed. He had a few new grey strands in his hair and beard, however.

“Fuck,” Kai let out in shock. He had expected guards, but not Yaren himself. It had been so long since he had seen anyone from home that he nearly ran over to the man to give him a tight hug.

“He’s…” Jaehyun said, noticing the Samorian crest.

“Yeah.”

Yaren approached the guards at the gates before he stopped, eyes darting to Kai.

There was a very brief shift in his expression. He started toward Kai. “Your Majesty,” he greeted Kai, bowing his head.

Kai grimaced. It had been a while since anyone had called him by these titles. And Your _Majesty_? Yaren was already addressing him as a king.

“How did you… recognize me?” Kai asked. It had been several years after all. He certainly must have changed.

“You look a lot like your father, Your Grace,” said Yaren as a matter-of-factly.

Kai was not sure if he were enraged or enraptured by that comment. There was suddenly a sharp pain in his chest.

“Is Mother here?” he asked.

“Yes. Her Majesty arrived at dawn,” said Yaren. “I have come to escort you to the Agaarian palace, Your Majesty.”

“I see.” Kai glanced to Jaehyun. “This is the Prince of Morridh.”

Yaren quickly bowed his head to Jaehyun. “Pardon me, Your Highness. I did not know.”

“It’s fine,” said Jaehyun, waving him off.

“He will be coming along,” Kai told the second-in-command. “Give me a moment to fetch my things, will you?”

* * *

Sehun roused very early today. His mother had awakened him, telling him to clean up nice and sharp. Taeyong, while yawning, told Sehun that the Queen Regent of Samor had arrived at the palace.

His father was strutting back and forth with his hands at his back when Sehun went to see him in his room. His mother did nothing to calm her restless husband.

“Father?” Sehun called.

The man came to a halt and turned. He smiled, but the agitation was palpable in his smile. “My son,” he said as lovingly as ever. He collected Sehun in his arms and pecked a kiss onto Sehun’s forehead, as though Sehun were supposed to ease his apprehension.

“Are you all right, Father?” inquired Sehun.

“I am all right, of course.”

“Is that why you have been pacing a hole in the floor since sunup, My King?” Sehun’s mother asked, a cheeky smirk quirking up a corner of her lips.

“Moira,” the man sighed, rubbing the wrinkles of worry on his forehead.

“Do not tell me that you still harbour feelings for that woman,” his mother said.

Sehun’s father made a face. “Nonsense!” he yapped. “I am just… extremely reluctant to do this. She must believe in the hearsays.”

Ah, the hearsays. Everyone knew it. Sehun did, too. He fiercely and actively ignored them. Only complete morons would believe in those rumours.

“Maybe she doesn’t,” said Sehun’s mother.

“She would not want to see me.”

Sehun’s mother sighed. She rose from her seat and walked over to her husband. Taking hold of his arm, she said, “I understand your concernment. But you need not fear, My King.”

“You never fear anything,” Sehun said, frowning.

His father’s smile was a little sad now. “Oh, my boy. If only you knew just how much I fear.” He sighed. “I promise you that, once this banquet is over, we will go look for Kai.”

Sehun bowed his head. He was not in a hurry. He’d be seeing Kai today, anyway.

“All right,” his father said. “Come. Let us go make an appearance.”

As he made his way out of the room, Sehun took his mother’s arm. “He could not possibly still be pining for her, could he?” he asked.

His mother shrugged in the most ladylike manner. “She was his first love. Nobody ever forgets or stops pining for their first love.”

Sehun’s heart skipped a beat. He grinned to himself, his mind instantly thinking of Kai. He did not think that he could ever forget Kai.

“And that doesn’t upset you?” he asked his mother.

“Of course not,” his mother said. “If anything, I sympathize with your father. Not only did he lose the woman he had loved, but he also took an atrocious condemnation to his name because of that woman. And yet, he had done nothing to cause any more trouble for her. He knew that she was grieving. Attempting to clear his name at a time like that would have only caused her more grief. He did the noblest thing a man could do.”

Though Sehun could not imagine continuing to love someone who betrayed him, he knew that his father loved blindly. He was a strong king, but most of his strength came from the kindness and affection he harboured for his family and his people.

As they arrived at the throne room, Sehun gasped and leaped aside when a little boy galloped past him with a wooden hobbyhorse between his legs. He stopped to look up at Sehun.

“You’re _pweetty_ , mister,” he said. Sehun knew what the boy was saying because he had little sisters the boy’s age who constantly spoke baby.

He was beyond flattered by the innocent compliment. But before he could thank the incredibly well-dressed boy, the kid galloped away, making whinnying noises.

“Who was that?” he asked his mother. He had not seen the boy around here before.

“I do not know.”

Sehun looked for the Samorian Queen as soon as he entered the throne room, but his gaze darted to the tall man at the Agaarian Queen’s side. His skin was as pale as Sehun’s. His nose was sharp enough to cut. High cheekbones, full lips, and golden hair that reached his tailbone. His facial features were both masculine and feminine. His shoulders were broad, but his body was lean. He easily stood out in the crowd, in the best way possible.

The man who was standing next to him had an arm wound around his waist.

All heads turned to look at Sehun’s father.

“Egeryn,” the woman in the simplest dress in the room rasped, eyes widening with either shock or surprise. Perhaps both.

Sehun watched his father wince, as though he were pinched. He bowed his head. “It is… nice seeing you again,” he said.

Sehun had never seen his father speak so… unsure of himself. He assumed the woman was the Queen of Samor. She was older than Sehun had expected her to be. She was almost as old his father. But she carried herself very well. There were a few streaks of white in her otherwise dark hair. There was something very familiar about her, but Sehun could not find out what.

“Yes,” the Samorian Queen said. She did not smile. She looked to the Agaarian King with a cocked brow. That looked very familiar, too. “You didn’t tell me that you had company.”

“They dropped by a couple of days ago,” said the king.

“We won’t be in your way,” Sehun’s father said. “I… won’t be in your way.”

The queen hummed in response, her eyes mustering the man from top to bottom. “You look well, Egeryn.”

That made Sehun’s father smile like a schoolboy. He quickly stamped it out. “I could say the same about you, Irene.”

The gorgeous man with the long hair stepped forward and went down to one knee before Sehun’s father. “King Egeryn,” he said. His voice was low and deep, but his tone was soft. It was as though he were singing. He was a work of art, truly. “It is an honour, meeting Your Majesty in person.”

“Rise,” his father said, and the man rose. “Are you perhaps Nairthan?”

The man nodded, smiling. Goodness, who made him?! “I am Radosav, Your Majesty,” he introduced himself.

“Well met, Radosav. It is always a pleasure to meet one of my subjects.”

“He is not your _subject_ ,” spat the other man, who had his arm around Radosav’s waist earlier, clenching his jaw. He was the polar opposite of Radosav. He sported a beard, short hair that was closely cropped at the sides, and he bore a burly, thickly muscled body. His skin was so tan that he must have been under the sun all his life. He might have been an inch shorter than Radosav. And when he spoke, he sounded like he was initiating a battle cry. He was most definitely a Samorian.

“Zaven, please,” Radosav protested, though softly. “Forgive my husband, Your Majesty.”

“This is my brother-in-law,” said the Samorian Queen, sighing. “Zaven.”

Ah, so the late Samorian King’s brother. He must be one of the morons who believed the rumours then, because he was looking at Sehun’s father like he wanted to plunge one of his massive, strong fists into the man’s skull.

But he was Radosav’s husband. One was a Nairthan, and the other was a Samorian. It sounded… unlawful, although it really wasn’t. Why would someone like Radosav take a Samorian brute for a husband?

The Nairthan guards took a step closer, but their king ordered them to stay calm.

“Perhaps it is time to defuse some tension over here,” said the Agaarian King, laughing nervously. “You must be tired from the journey. Why don’t you freshen up for the banquet? We’ll send a carriage to fetch your son.”

The Samorian Queen’s expression softened at the mention of her son. She smiled and nodded. “Very well. Yaren will go and get him,” she said.

As the royal Samorian family wended their way out of throne room, Radosav bowed to the Nairthan King once more, while the Samorian Queen and her rude brother-in-law pinned Sehun’s father with a painstaking look. Zaven’s was a lot more hostile than the queen’s.

“Don’t do that again,” he heard Radosav mutter to his husband as they walked out. Zaven groaned in response.

“That was… tense,” commented the Agaarian King, clapping a hand to Egeryn’s shoulder. “It’ll be fine. Don’t worry.”

“I honestly do not think it will,” said Sehun’s father, sighing.

* * *

“The carriage has pulled up!” a guard announced, just as Sehun sauntered into the feast hall where everyone was lunching later in the afternoon. The little boy from earlier was there too, sitting on Radosav’s lap, eating from his hand. Zaven did not look as annoyed as he was earlier in the morning. He was now trying to get the little boy to eat some carrots.

“ _No_ , Daddy,” the boy whined, turning his face away from the carrots.

“Just let the carrots go, will you?” Radosav said gently.

“You are spoiling him.”

“You are the one who spoils him.”

Zaven said nothing to that. He leaned in with a defeated sigh and pressed a kiss to the top of the boy’s head and another to Radosav’s temple.

Sehun blinked. The boy was their son. Was Radosav a bearer? How was he supposed to know? It was not as though all bearers communicated with their minds to let each other tacitly know that they were bearers.

But Sehun had not known many bearers in his life. He had so many questions. But it would be creepy to just spill them to a man he had just met.

When the guard announced the arrival of the Crown Prince of Samor, everyone jolted up to their feet and hurried away. Everyone but Sehun’s parents.

Sehun frowned. “Don’t you want to… go and welcome the prince?” he asked.

His father was not even listening. He was lost in his thoughts as he dully sipped some wine.

“Sit, Sehun,” his mother said.

Sehun took his seat, even though he wanted to run over to the bailey with everyone else to meet the Prince of Samor. He could barely sit still as he tapped his feet on the ground, looking at the entrance eagerly.

The Agaarian family returned shortly after. Princess Hina was flushed red. There was no sign of the Samorian royal family.

Sehun slouched disappointedly. He supposed he would have to wait until the banquet to meet the prince.

“The Prince of Morridh is here too,” said the Agaarian King offhandedly.

Sehun stilled in his seat. “What?” he rasped. All heads turned to him. He licked his lips.

“Do not worry, Sehun,” the king chuckled. “It’s just his younger brother.”

“Prince Jaehyun?!” Sehun’s jaw fell slack.

“Yes,” said the man.

What was Jaehyun doing here? Did he come to the banquet with the Samorian Prince? Could they be friends perhaps?

* * *

Everyone was gathered at the courtyard in the evening. Sehun had dolled himself up well for the first time in a while. He was not sure if he had done that for his first meeting with the Prince of Samor or for his tryst with Kai later.

All eyes were on Radosav, anyway. The man was enchanting. He had to be angelic.

While everyone waited for the Samorian Prince, Sehun approached Radosav, who was leaning against a flowerpot, nursing a winecup in his hand. Sehun made sure that Zaven was nowhere near them. He did not want to risk that man’s wrath.

Radosav smiled and straightened up before bowing his head upon noticing Sehun. “Your Highness,” he said.

“H-Hi,” Sehun muttered. People often praised his beauty. But before Radosav, he felt incredibly… childish. Yes, that would be an apt description. Radosav was a whole head taller than him. His beauty was more defined. There was no way that anyone could compare to him. Out of all the questions, the one that Sehun wanted to ask the most was just how he had ended up with Zaven, who was no slouch himself, but he was not exactly genteel or refined.

“Hi,” Radosav said, laughing lightly.

“I hope this question does not offend you,” said Sehun. “but are you…”

Radosav nodded before Sehun even managed to stagger to the end of his sentence. “Yes, I am a bearer, Your Highness.”

He sounded so polite and nice.

“So, that is your… son,” Sehun said.

“Yes. His name is Arshen.”

Sehun smiled. “That’s a nice name.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.”

“Um… Was it… easy?”

Radosav just knew what Sehun was asking about. Incredible. He shook his head, much to Sehun’s dismay. “It’s never easy,” he said. “But that’s part of the charm, I suppose. You would love them in a way… no one else could.”

He was looking at the boy who was dancing with Zaven as the lutes played, his arms stretched all the way up, his hands gripping his father’s.

“I have so many questions,” Sehun muttered.

“You are more than welcome to ask them, Your Highness,” said Radosav.

Sehun exhaled in relief. “Thank you.”

They were interrupted by herald who cried out, “Announcing the arrival of His Highness, Prince Jaehyun of Morridh.”

Sehun turned around to look at Jaehyun, who walked into the courtyard, giving the herald’s shoulder a pat. “You don’t need to do that,” he told the herald embarrassedly.

Sehun grinned, taking a step forward so that he could greet Jaehyun. He stopped, however, his feet freezing to the ground.

“Announcing the arrival of His Majesty, the sole heir of House Radaal, Crown Prince of–”

“That’s enough,” Kai cut off the herald, rolling his eyes, as he walked into the courtyard. He was clothed in the grandest coat and tunic, his chest bearing the crest of Samor in gold, his hair the neatest Sehun had ever seen it. There was even a thin sheen of gold powder on his cheeks.

The Samorian Queen stepped toward him and embraced him. “Kai,” she said, kissing him on the cheeks.

Sehun’s knees buckled then. He staggered back, knocking the winecup from Radosav’s hand.

Radosav caught him. “Your Highness?” he said. Sehun’s ears rang, and every part of his body numbed for a moment.


	14. Chapter 14

“Why am I scared?” said Jaehyun when the carriage came to a halt. “Why am I feeling scared?”

“Is something the matter, Your Highness?” asked Yaren as he opened the door.

Jaehyun fixed Kai with a look. “No.”

Stepping out of the carriage, Kai gazed at the palace. He was invited by the royal family of Agaar once every year to have a meal with them. It was not enough to become overly familiar with any of them. Like the city, the Agaarian King and his family were incredibly well-read. But they were always so humble and friendly. Normal. Ideally, it would have been nice to be born into a family like theirs. But Kai did not think that he would be a great addition to it now.

Today, he might alienate them. It would not grieve Kai in the least, though. He did not particularly care for their feelings. He doubted that he would feel sorry for breaking their hearts.

He had bigger concerns for the time being. One of which he would have to brave in a few moments. He had not seen his mother in ages. Did she resent him for not writing back? Or did she understand that Kai had every reason to hate her for sending him away and never allowing him to return until now?

He had lost both his father and mother seven years ago, when he thought about it. He grew up without the affection of either. While he nursed his thirst to avenge his father on the one hand, he begrudged his mother on the other. She had sent him away it for his safety, of course. Still, it did not placate Kai’s resentment towards her. For not doing anything to requite the injustice that was meted out to her husband.

Could she have changed in the last seven years? Kai supposed he would have an idea if only he had read her letters.

“Your Majesty,” said Yaren. “Shall we? Your mother is waiting.”

Kai took a deep breath and nodded, following Yaren into the palace. “Are you still the second-in-command?” asked Kai.

“No, sire,” said Yaren. “Captain Keilan retired a couple of years ago.”

“What?” Kai’s eyes widened. “So, you’re Captain now.”

“Yes, Your Grace. Does that displease you?”

Kai scoffed. “Not really,” he said. “You can continue to be my Captain when I’m king, don’t worry.”

Yaren bowed his head. “As you command, Prince Kai.”

God, he was so sterile. Kai sighed. He supposed everyone back at the palace was sterile and stern and oh-so serious. Everyone except his father, who found the time to enjoy the little things around him. It would be strange to go back to the palace where he would not be.

“I was not expecting my mother to come,” Kai admitted. “Why did she come?”

“I reckon Her Majesty has come to celebrate you and to take you home,” said Yaren. “She… missed you.”

Kai chuckled despite himself. “I bet,” he muttered.

Yaren stopped abruptly and bowed his head. Kai heard gasps before he turned to look at the corridor. His eyes instantly landed on Radosav. Mostly because he was the tallest man there with the longest hair Kai had ever seen on a man.

“Kai!”

He looked to his other uncle, Zaven. His chest hurt to look at the man. He resembled Kai’s father quite a bit. He had gotten… bigger. The last time Kai had seen him, he was not this muscly and jacked.

Kai was delighted to see them, nonetheless. He had not expected them to be here.

He then glanced to his mother, who was walking towards him with her lips stretched into a wide grin. She genuinely looked happy, and frankly relieved, to see him.

“Kai,” she called, drawing into an embrace. It was a brief, loose one. Kai’s family was not as fond of physical displays of affection as Sehun’s family was, which Kai was more than okay with. He was not the most expressive or feeling person.

“My,” his mother let out, pulling back to take a good look at him. “How you have grown…”

Kai managed a faint smile. She had not changed much. Like Yaren, she had some grey hairs now, and she had some new wrinkles. She looked tired, too. Kai supposed ruling a country all by oneself could do that to a person.

“You are so tall now,” his mother said. It was awkward. She was his mother, and yet, she felt like a stranger. She probably felt the same way about Kai now, too.

“Yeah,” Kai let out. “I guess. You look good, Mother.”

He was pounced by his uncle then, who threw himself onto him, crushing him in his powerful arms. “Uncle Zaven,” Kai croaked.

“Look at you!” Zaven exclaimed. “All grown up. You’re a man now. I’m sure you’ll be tickling all the pretty ones fancy.”

“Got any pointers for me?” Kai snorted.

Radosav stepped forward then with the same grace Kai remembered. Now that Kai was a man, his knees wobbled a little at the sight of Radosav. All men would go weak for this man. It was no surprise that his uncle was ready to bend over backwards to wed Radosav the instant he had set his eyes on him, determined to win the man’s heart at all costs. It had not taken much for him to win Radosav’s heart, however. Zaven’s rugged charms were enough to woo and make the exquisite Nairthan beauty fall for him in a heartbeat.

“How have you been?” Radosav inquired as politely as ever.

“Mighty good, Uncle Radosav,” said Kai. It was then when he realized a boy was hiding behind Radosav, looking up at him with big, wide eyes. Kai gasped. “Is this… Sage?”

His nephew! God, he was only a baby when Kai last saw him. He still looked like a toddler, though.

“No. We left Sage with his grandparents. He gets seasick,” said Radosav with a soft laugh. Kai looked at the man, surprised. “Do not be rude, Arsh. Say hello to your cousin. Kai.”

Kai dropped to a crouch, gaping in disbelief as the boy stepped forward. He held out a hand to Kai. Smiling, Kai took and shook it lightly. “ _Pweasure_ to meet you, cousin Kai,” he mewled.

“The pleasure is all mine, cousin Arshen,” said Kai. “I would have come with presents had I known you were here.”

Arshen returned to Radosav and clung to his father’s trousers, still staring at Kai all wide-eyed. Kai was staring back at him all wide-eyed, too.

Rising back to his full height, he blinked at Zaven. “You had another child?” he asked.

“Yes, we wrote to you,” said his uncle.

Kai’s cheeks surprisingly grew hot. He had not read any of their letters either. He had just assumed that they were all from his mother. On extremely rare occasions, he did regret his actions, and this was one of those rare occasions. He had not known at all that Zaven and Radosav had another baby, and that he had a second cousin!

“Congratulations, Prince Kai,” said the Agaarian King. Kai had not noticed him. He bowed his head to the king. “Come. I am sure you all have a lot of catching up to do. You can take the sunroom. I will have the servants run up some refreshments.”

“Who might this be?” Kai’s mother inquired, looking over Kai’s shoulder.

“Oh, yes, I forgot,” Kai let out, grabbing hold of Jaehyun’s arm.

“Prince Jaehyun of Morridh,” Radosav said and bowed before Kai could introduce him. Of course, he knew everyone and everything. Radosav was the wisest man Kai knew. He was truly… something else. In a lot of ways, Radosav now reminded Kai of… Sehun.

He tried to shake the thought away. He admired Radosav. He would not be admitting that he admired Sehun the same way, too.

A pawn. Nothing more, he reminded himself.

“Yes,” he said. “He’s my friend from the college. I hope you do not mind my bringing him along.”

Jaehyun paid his respects to both the Queen Regent of Samor and the King and Queen of Agaar.

“Not at all,” said the king. “The more the merrier. You are more than welcome to join us at the banquet, Prince Jaehyun. Perhaps later we could talk. I have some regards I’d like to send to your father.”

“That sounds good,” said Jaehyun, smiling.

As they retired to the sunroom, Kai kept looking to his mother, still unable to believe that she was here. His family was here for him. She had kept her word, after all. Kai could return home now that it was time for him to wear the crown.

“ _That’s_ your uncle’s husband?” Jaehyun asked in a whisper, jerking his chin towards Radosav, who was walking ahead.

“Yeah. He’s from Nairth.”

“He’s so–”

“I know.”

“ _Phew_. Your uncle is one lucky bastard.”

Kai elbowed Jaehyun in the ribs. “Shut up.”

“These Nairthans are _so_ beautiful,” Jaehyun sighed disappointedly. “So, when are you going to tell your family about… Sehun?”

“Shh.”

Informing everyone of the details of his life was not in Kai’s nature. He was usually very private. His family would find out about Sehun when they find out. Kai was not going to inform them of anything.

It was not arrogance or insolence. He simply grew up that way. Even Zaven had not asked for anyone’s approval, nor had he informed anybody before he showed up one day with Radosav.

Even Kai’s mother had eloped with his father. Their lives, their choices. So, they could not possibly expect Kai to adhere to the engagement they had arranged for him. They might be shocked, but he doubted that any of them would stand in the way at the end of the day. Of course, Kai’s choice was a little more complicated. Sehun was the son of the man who murdered his father. He was not sure how well it would sit with his family. Not that it mattered, anyway. He would do what he wanted.

As they lounged in the sunroom, his uncles asked him how his college life had been. Kai kept his answers short and curt. His mother was staring at him with a smile that she could not wipe away. Something twisted uncomfortably inside him when he realized she was wholeheartedly relieved that he was finally with her again. Kai was not sure how he felt. He was still bitter, of course. But he felt more numb and awkward more than anything. Years of shutting his emotions away might have turned him into an unfeeling freak.

Sometimes, he could not even muster the strength to entertain his grievances and anger. There were simply not enough emotional resources for him to get in touch with his feelings, not even the bad ones. Probably that was why he had not taken a sword to Egeryn’s chest already. And it was the only time he truly felt bad. For not having done enough to avenge his father’s death. It was a constant battle that he actively refused to attend just because he really did not have the mental energy for it.

He wondered if his detachment and literal acedia would ever change.

The only emotion he was familiar with was anger. Since his father’s death, no one really needed his love. Kai grew up the last few years with no one to share his affection with. He had gradually lost his touch with it. No one depended on his love. No one even needed it. So, there was no reason for him to nurture love. Love was an important constituent of empathy, which Kai severely lacked, and he knew it. He did not do much to correct it, though. He had been become a spiritual sloth.

Now that his family was here again, surrounding him with the love that had been absent for the last seven years, Kai did not know how to react to it. He was sceptical. Was this affection genuine? His uncles’ excitement to see him again seemed sincere enough. Kai was not sure why, though. He could not relate. Then there was their second son, who was gawking at Kai while stuffing cubes of rose jellies into his mouth like a squirrel hoarding nuts. He looked intrigued. That Kai could partially understand. Most people who met him for the first time were intrigued.

His mother simply looked… happy and at peace.

“Why haven’t you fastened your laces?” she asked, sitting up straighter.

Kai blinked and glanced down at his partly open shirt. He did not know what to say. No one cared about that. But of course, his mother would.

“And when was the last time you had a haircut?” she asked, tousling Kai’s hair.

The touch made Kai’s heart skip a beat. He turned his face away.

“How does your father and mother fare, Prince Jaehyun?” Kai’s mother then inquired, turning to Jaehyun.

“They are well, Your Majesty,” said Jaehyun. “Thank you for asking.”

“What are we to do about Egeryn?” Zaven asked now that they were alone. He did not mind Jaehyun’s presence.

“What are we to do?” said Radosav. “They are guests of the King and Queen of Agaar. You will not discredit their hospitality by insulting their guests. Am I understood?”

Only Radosav could speak so commandingly in such a soft tone, though his voice was still deep and rough.

His husband groaned. Zaven was a stubborn, hard-headed man who easily succumbed to his lover’s requests and pleas. Especially when they were presented with gentleness. “Fine. But I am not going to pretend that we are all friends!” he rasped, anyway.

Kai leaned back against the cushions. “We don’t have to,” his mother said. “But we will keep our distance.”

“Does it not bother you at all? That the murderer of your husband, _my_ brother still roams free?” Zaven growled.

“It does,” said Kai’s mother. “It boils my blood. But we cannot accuse him of anything. We have tried and failed to find any evidence against him.”

“We’d have to be incredibly naïve to believe that he had nothing to do with it. Did you even see the way he was acting earlier? Staggering and stuttering like a fumbling idiot.”

Jaehyun coughed, choking on the ginger tea he was swilling.

“Egeryn?” Kai said, quite confused himself. A fumbling idiot? The esteemed King of Nairth? Staggering and stuttering before the Queen of Samor?

“Yes,” sighed Zaven. Radosav placed a hand on his husband’s shoulder.

“We aren’t here for a fight,” he said calmly, sliding his fingers into Zaven’s hair at the nape of his neck. “We are here for Kai.”

As much as Kai appreciated the thought, he would rather pick a fight with Egeryn, too.

“Radosav’s right,” said Kai’s mother. “We are far from home. Let us behave and get back safely. Nothing matters more now than Kai’s forthcoming coronation. Let’s not make a scene.”

Kai swallowed, glancing to Jaehyun who was cocking an eyebrow at him.

Zaven conceded defeat for now, leaning back against his husband, who was gently carding his fingers through Zaven’s comparably very short hair.

It was strange. For so long, Kai had only been able to think about Egeryn in the privacy of his own head. Listening to others talk about him was oddly refreshing and peculiar.

“Kai,” his mother called. Kai looked at her. “You have been very quiet. Is something the matter?”

Kai licked his lips before speaking. “No,” he said. “It’s just… a lot to take in.”

His mother and uncles frowned at him similarly. They looked confused. “How do you mean, Kai?” asked Radosav.

Kai shrugged. “Doesn’t this… feel weird to you? We haven’t seen each other since I was a child.”

Radosav and Zaven exchanged a glance with Kai’s mother, whose frown deepened.

“You never wrote back,” she said.

“I never read your letters,” Kai admitted, remorselessly.

His mother stared into his eyes sadly. “You were angry.”

Kai scoffed. “I wasn’t just angry,” he said. “I felt abandoned.”

“Kai,” Zaven said. “Whatever that your mother did, she did it in your best interest.”

“No,” Kai said. “She did it in the country’s best interest. She didn’t give me even a week to mourn my father before she shipped me away.”

“Kai,” his mother rasped.

Kai shook his head. “You know what,” he said. “I do not want to discuss this. What you say is not going to change how I feel, and I quite frankly don’t have the energy. So, let’s just pretend that we’re all good and sip tea.”

No one said anything for a moment.

Kai felt Jaehyun’s hand on his elbow. It was meant to comfort him.

“Forgive us, Prince Jaehyun,” said Radosav. Jaehyun had a hard time finding his voice.

“It’s all right,” he said eventually, refusing to meet Radosav’s eyes. “We all have our fair share of family issues.”

“Can I have some time alone with my son?” the queen then requested.

The others left at once. Radosav picked his son up on his way out. Kai wanted to leave with them, but he heaved a loud sigh and faced his mother.

“You do not have to explain yourself or justify your actions,” Kai told her before she could speak. “It would change nothing. It never changes anything. I don’t care enough to understand or empathize or anything.”

His mother was probably more surprised by the calmness in the way he said it.

“Kai,” she begun. “I know that you are still grieving. I am, too. But it is only because we haven’t had a closure. We do not know who murdered your father.”

“We do,” Kai said.

His mother frowned. “For years, this… suspicion, the thirst for resolution, all the unanswered questions have… poisoned me.”

They had poisoned Kai, too.

“The only thing that could help me sleep at night was knowing that you were safe,” his mother said. “And if that meant… having you hate me, then so be it. I would not risk your life, in spite of what you think my true intentions are. Do you think it wasn’t hard for me? To stay away from you? You’re back now. I want to… mend our relationship, darling.”

“It was your fault, wasn’t it?” Kai said. His mother blinked. “You were the reason Father even went to Nairth. You were the reason Egeryn hated him. You gave him the motive to murder him. And yet, you sit and watch. You and I didn’t have a family for all these years while Egeryn thrived with his family. He was happy. He had gotten his revenge. Come to think of it, it was your fault right from the beginning. If only you hadn’t humiliated him by eloping with another man.”

He was not even sure that he believed it was all her fault, but he felt like blaming her for once. He felt like making her feel bad. Maybe that would make him feel good.

“Kai,” his mother gasped. “Trust me. I had wanted nothing more than for Egeryn to pay. But I cannot… punish a man for something he had not done without any proof.”

“There was proof all around you. You just refused to believe in it. Is it because you still feel sorry for him? For what you did to him? For breaking his heart?”

His mother fell quiet.

Kai snorted and rose to his feet. “I will not humiliate you before the others. But I have long forgone my love for you, Mother. You don’t have to worry about fixing our relationship because it doesn’t matter to me anymore. _You_ don’t matter to me anymore.”

He had thought that it would feel good to get all that off his chest. But he felt indifferent as always. Perhaps he had felt indifferent for so long that it was a part of him now. And there was no getting rid of it.

His mother would do just fine without his love, as he would without hers.

No one needed his love, anyway.

No one depended on it.

Not even his mother.

* * *

“So, what are you going to do?” Jaehyun asked while Kai stood before the full-length mirror, adjusting the lapels of his overcoat. He had not worn something so extravagant in forever. It almost looked ridiculous on him. Jaehyun was gawking at him like he was wrapped in the gaudiest bejewelled cloak.

“I don’t know,” Kai muttered, scowling at the gooey stuff the servants had put in his hair. Not even a tornado could move a strand on his head now. He groaned lightly. Radosav had insisted that he looked presentable for the Agaarian royal family, especially his betrothed. The Agaarian King had gifted Kai with the clothes.

“That doesn’t sound like a very good plan,” Jaehyun muttered, rising from the chaise lounge. Walking over to Kai, he tugged Kai’s coat collar at the back. “Why didn’t you tell your mother earlier?”

“Who cares, Jaehyun,” Kai grumbled. “I’m going to do what I want to do.”

He watched Jaehyun’s eyebrows dip low in the mirror. “And you’re not afraid that it might rub some people the wrong way?”

“The Agaarian King would not risk the alliance he already has with Samor,” said Kai. “Not even for his daughter’s honour. Half of Agaar’s economic resources comes through the Strait of Norren, which Samor has control over. My engagement to his daughter was a promise of the former king.”

“I’m talking about… the Nairthan King. What if… you rattle his cage and he goes… berserk?”

Kai turned around and brushed past Jaehyun as a faint smirk formed on his lips. “I’m counting on it,” he muttered under his breath.

He thought that he was incredibly calm and collected. Until he reached the corridor to the courtyard. He tried not to let Jaehyun see his sudden trepidation. Or was it excitement? Either way, his stomach was suddenly in knots. He felt something, but he was not sure what it was. If Egeryn and his family had not figured out already that Kai was the Crown Prince of Samor, how were they going to react? He could not believe that it had all boiled down to this very moment. Fate might have been in his favour lately.

When the herald had announced their arrivals, Kai was stopped by his mother who gave his cheeks each a kiss. It was a façade for the others.

“You look lovely, sweetheart,” his mother said, taking a step back to muster Kai as a whole. Her smile was a little sad then. Kai wondered if she was remembering his father.

His eyes shot past his mother’s shoulder and landed on Egeryn, who jolted up from his seat, blood draining from his face.

“What is the meaning of this?!” he yapped.

All music and voices died at his roar.

At his side, his wife rose, her eyes lit with horror.

Kai watched his mother turn around to face the Nairthan King, protectively putting herself before Kai. “What are you baying for, Egeryn?” she asked confusedly.

Egeryn was gaping at Kai, holding his breath. For moments, he could not speak. Kai nearly asked him if cat had gotten his tongue. His consort, Sehun’s mother, looked as rattled as her king.

Kai did not spot Sehun immediately in the crowd, but he eventually did find Sehun in the arms of Radosav, who was holding him, as though Sehun would topple over if he retrieved his arms.

Sehun’s horrified eyes were now locked with Kai’s. He was as pale as a ghost. Kai was not sure why his chest was tight in that moment. He took great pleasure in seeing Egeryn’s confusion and panic, but something about Sehun’s distress made his insides ache. He looked away.

Egeryn stepped forward. He tore his gaze from Kai and fixed it on his mother. “Th… This is your… son?” he asked, his voice shaking.

“Yes, he is,” his mother spat defensively.

Kai took hold of her arm then and gently drew her away so that he could step forth. He was no longer a child that needed her protection. “I am indeed the son of Radaal,” he said proudly and confidently. He refrained a smile when he saw Egeryn’s face die. He could finally look into Egeryn’s eyes and say those words. And he watched guilt well up in those eyes.

Guilty.

Egeryn swallowed and turned his face away momentarily.

“What seems to be the problem here?” asked the Agaarian King with a crumpled expression.

Egeryn glanced back to his son, who was still staring at Kai in disbelief. He then looked at Kai’s mother. “Irene, I did not… know,” he said.

“Know what?” she asked, scowling.

“That… he’s your son.”

She pinned him with a puzzled look. “And?”

Egeryn clenched his eyes briefly and finally took a breath. Then turning to his wife, he said, “We ought to leave.”

He did not wait for her response as he stormed out of there.

“Pardon us,” she said before she hurried after her husband.

“That was strange,” Kai’s mother said. “Did he know you?”

Kai nodded. His mother’s eyes widened in worry.

“How?”

Kai did not answer that question as he looked in Sehun’s way again. Radosav was no longer holding him up, but he was now asking Sehun if he were all right.

Sehun was still staring at Kai. The shock had not waned from his face. Kai sighed and walked past his mother.

As he approached Sehun, the latter’s panic increasingly grew in his eyes. Kai stopped in his tracks when he realized the prince was now scowling, staring daggers at Kai.

“Sehun,” he started saying. But he did not get a chance to say anything more as Sehun aggressively pulled away from Radosav and raised a hand to Kai’s shoulder to shove him out of the way before he stomped away, gasping for air like he was suffocating.

Kai stood still for a moment, honestly taken aback by the anger that was flaring in Sehun’s eyes. He had expected the boy to break down in tears. Not… walk away like he was done with Kai.

He supposed some anger was due. He had lied so callously after all.

“Do you know each other?” asked Radosav, though he did not look as dumbfounded as Kai’s mother did.

Kai excused himself and went after Sehun. He knew that everyone over there was awaiting an explanation, but he did not feel like giving one at the moment. Or ever.

The evening sky was rapidly darkening, making way for clusters of scintillating stars. He caught up with Sehun on the stairs, but Sehun did not stop for him.

There was rage in his strides, and Kai honestly did not think that the boy was even capable of such fury. He did not even demand an explanation. Kai could not possibly let Sehun walk away. The plan that he had hatched heavily depended on Sehun taking his side.

He caught Sehun’s wrist when they reached the top of the staircase. “Sehun,” he rasped. “Wait.”

Sehun spun around so fast that it took Kai a moment to register the slap on a side of his face. Blinking in shock and disbelief, he gawked at the other boy, whose nostrils were flaring, chest heaving.

Kai could not believe that he had just been struck. No one in his life, out of the duelling ring, had ever struck him like that. It did not hurt much, but it surprised him all the same.

“Did you have fun?” Sehun spat through his grit teeth. There was no sign of tears in his eyes. Just anger, in full tilt. Sehun shoved him back by the chest so hard that Kai hit the railing of the stairwell. “Did you have your laugh making a fool out of me?!”

Kai swallowed the lump in his throat before speaking. Fuck, had he gone and screwed this up? “Sehun–”

“Here I thought I was the one who was making a fool of myself,” Sehun scoffed. “But no. You were the one who turned me into a giant laughingstock.”

He turned on his heel and marched down the hallway. Kai half-heartedly went after him once more. Even as Sehun burst into a room, Kai pursued him, shutting the door behind him.

“Listen, I–”

Sehun cut him off. “You don’t need to say anything. I know who you are now, and that’s enough. I have nothing more to say to you.”

Kai felt his legs turn numb then. “I wanted to tell you.”

“Oh, really? When? The entire time, you were just… fooling around. And to think I… told everyone about how I felt for you… Wow, there could not be a bigger idiot than me.”

He planted his hands in his hair and gripped it, turning his back to Kai briefly.

“You are spiralling,” Kai said.

Sehun faced him again, anger returning to his face with a tenfold intensity. “I’m spiralling?”

“You said that you wanted _me_. Why does it have to change now?”

“I wanted the simple, modest boy who I thought was the most honest person I’ve ever met. Not the Crown Prince of Samor, who’s a lying, repulsive fraud! You arrogant, smug bastard. Do you feel like a big man, preying on innocent hearts, making a clown out of them?!”

Kai lost it then. He was not even arguing for the sake of his revenge. Right now, he wanted to defend himself, nothing more. He scoffed derisively. That seemed to ignite Sehun even more. He looked he might throw another fist at Kai.

“Apart from hiding my real identity, I did not lie to you about anything,” Kai snapped. “And did I not warn you that you’d be a hypocrite if you knew everything?”

“I am not being a hypocrite. I told you that I wanted the man that you showed me,” Sehun argued.

“I _am_ that man,” Kai growled. “And you hate me now because I’m not the simple boy you believed me to be? Because I lied? Or is it because I’m the Prince of Samor?”

Sehun did not respond.

Kai snorted humourlessly. “And yet you wonder why I did not tell you about it. You would not have wanted me because your family would not want me!”

Sehun stopped then, flinching. He took a few minutes to gather his breaths, and possibly his thoughts. He closed the distance between them and stopped a few inches away from Kai.

“Get out,” he said. His voice was breaking.

“Sehun,” Kai let out, frowning. “I’m… sorry.”

“No, you’re not.”

Kai clenched his teeth then. “Then give me one good reason why you wouldn’t have me anymore. Apart from the fact that I lied to you about who I really am.”

Sehun winced, his hands balling into tight fists at his sides. “I said get out, Kai.”

“So… you don’t want me now?” asked Kai. “You’re tossing me away… just like that? You can throw me out of your heart in the span of two minutes?”

“You lied,” Sehun spat. “You broke my trust.”

“I asked you a different question.”

Sehun was mum all of a sudden, though he continued to pant furiously.

“Tell me that I’m no longer in your heart, and I’ll leave you alone for good,” said Kai, noticing the hesitance in Sehun’s gaze.

His own heart was thundering in his chest.

When Sehun did not answer, the tears finally glistening in his eyes, Kai took a step forward. It was all it took for him to reach the other boy.

His hands flew up to the sides of Sehun’s head, and he drew Sehun close to smash their lips together.

Sehun fisted Kai’s shirt by the chest and groaned into the rough kiss, struggling to shove Kai back. When he finally managed to, Kai hissed, sucking the blood from his lower lip. It was his. Sehun had bitten his lip.

He barely took a breath before Sehun crashed against him, pinning his back to the door. He groaned when the back of his head knocked against the door with a loud thud. Before he even realized what was happening, Sehun crushed his lips under his, kissing him mercilessly.

Kai thought Sehun bit him again, but he could tell for sure. He might have bitten it himself the second time. It was all teeth and tongue. Saliva and blood. Holy fuck, he had never kissed or been kissed like this.

He reached back and locked the door before he enveloped his arms around Sehun’s waist and yanked him to the side, pushing him up the door now.

Sehun shoved him back, breaking the kiss again. Kai staggered and stopped, gasping for air.

The next thing he knew, Sehun’s hands were hurriedly undoing the laces and buttons of his overcoat. Kai curled his own fingers around the hem of Sehun’s fine tunic to yank it over his head.

Sehun let go of Kai’s overcoat for a moment to wrap his hands around the back of Kai’s head, fingers deliberately tugging at Kai’s hair with more force than necessary.

“The bed? The desk?” Kai asked, breathing into the kiss. The desk was closer.

Sehun was already pushing him toward the bed, his fingers returning to the remaining buttons on Kai’s overcoat that were still fastened.


	15. Chapter 15

He fell back and dropped on the bed when his calves hit the mahogany bedframe. With his arms grappling Sehun’s waist, Kai yanked him down with him. He did not mind Sehun’s weight that landed on top of him, though he quickly flopped Sehun onto the mattress and mounted him, his mouth hungrily devouring Sehun’s.

Once Kai’s overcoat had come off, Sehun slipped his hands into Kai’s shirt at the back, the heels of his feet digging into the mattress while his toes curled around the sheets. Grabbing Sehun’s jaw in a hand, Kai parted the other boy’s lips with his tongue and deepened the kiss, licking the insides of Sehun’s hot mouth.

He gave Sehun no window to rethink his impulses as he hauled Sehun up to sit on his lap. Without breaking the kiss, Sehun ripped Kai’s shirt apart before tossing it to the floor. Then clasping his hands to the sides of Kai’s face, he caught Kai’s lower lip between his teeth and sucked it hard.

Kai slammed him back on the bed and pinned Sehun’s hands to the mattress above Sehun’s head. He ignored the first knock he heard as he smashed his mouth against Sehun’s neck, peppering it with desperate, ravenous kisses.

His head shot up at the second knock. “Go the fuck away!” he roared at whoever it was on the other side of the door. He did not hear a third knock.

Under him, Sehun was panting like he had just come out of a duel. Kai urgently kissed him once more, his hands wound tight around Sehun’s wrists that were pressed into the mattress. Unable to hold himself back anymore, he rubbed his crotch against Sehun’s.

Sehun’s body arched into Kai’s then, their hips grinding together, and he squirmed helplessly, struggling to break his hands free from Kai’s grip as Kai sucked a spot on his neck, leaving the skin red and marked. It was driving him crazy. Kai was planning on doing a lot of things that would drive Sehun crazy.

It was clear that Sehun was coveting the same as Kai.

He released Sehun’s wrists and knelt up on either side of Sehun. Keeping his eyes on Sehun’s parted and panting lips, Kai quickly undid the pearls of his trousers. Sehun, propped up on his elbows, was now watching Kai’s fingers that were making their way down the trousers’ fly.

Kai wondered if Sehun would stop him somewhere along the way. He did not want Sehun to. And it had nothing to do with his schemes. He simply wanted to take Sehun tonight. To savour him, to hold him, to… _own_ him. The idea still intrigued him greatly. Sehun would own him tonight, too. Kai would be… someone’s.

He shook those thoughts away and leaned back down to kiss Sehun’s lips, softly this time. Sehun kissed him back with the same tenderness, drawing a hand down Kai’s chest with a small tremble in it.

“I hate you,” Sehun breathed shakily against Kai’s mouth, brushing his lips against the rough skin beneath Kai’s lower lip.

Something swelled Kai’s chest then. Not because he believed that Sehun meant that, but because he did not. Even Sehun’s ‘I hate you’ was echoing his affection for Kai. And believe Kai, he knew plenty about what _hate_ sounded like.

Pulling back a little, Kai took a moment to look into Sehun’s scowling eyes. There was no resentment in it. A momentary anger, but he did not look resentful. And Kai knew what resentment looked like in a bitter man’s eyes. He had been looking at it every day in the mirror.

Was Sehun even capable of such resentment and bitter? Was he so forgiving that he was not even familiar with the kind of antipathy that could eat away at a man’s soul? That could poison someone to the point of no redemption, as his mother had said earlier.

Kai saw no such poison in Sehun’s eyes. There was anger, yes, but it was not the same as the resentment Kai had been harbouring for years.

Bowing his head down, he brushed a kiss on Sehun’s cheek. “I’m sorry,” he said. And in that moment, he was not sure if the apology was insincere. Jaehyun had accused him of never being remorseful, and Kai had agreed. So, what was this then? Why did he genuinely want to placate Sehun’s anger?

Sehun shoved him down to the bed then and climbed on top of him. Straddling Kai, he splayed his hands on Kai’s chest, bending over to kiss Kai on the mouth before he crawled down to kneel between Kai’s legs.

With an arched eyebrow, Kai watched Sehun curiously as the boy lowered his head, sticking his rear out. Kai bit on his throbbing bottom lip, eyes leering at Sehun’s ass. Fuck.

“What are you doing?” he asked when Sehun hooked his fingers into the waistband of his trousers and started lowering them.

“Returning the favour,” Sehun said, wrapping his hand around the base of Kai’s cock. Although the boy was trying to appear confident, there was a tremor in his voice and movements. But he most certainly was more confident than he had been the last time they were intimate. Kai quite frankly found it pleasing.

He tucked an arm under his head and watched Sehun slowly pump the cock in his hand. Sehun licked his lips, wetting them enough, before he brushed them against the slit of the cockhead.

“Fuck,” Kai huffed, grinning as he brought a hand to the back of Sehun’s head.

Sehun frowned. “Am I doing something wrong?” he asked.

Kai let out a breathy chuckle and shook his head. He gently stroked Sehun’s hair and said, “Not at all. You’re lovely.”

He watched Sehun’s cheeks turn even redder. Taking it as an encouragement, Sehun parted his lips. His tongue darted out to lick the slit before he wrapped his mouth around the cockhead. Kai sucked in a deep breath and tried to keep his fingers loose around the strands of Sehun’s hair.

He raised his lower body and slowly slid into Sehun’s tight, warm, wet mouth. “That’s it,” he let out, eyes clenched. Fuck, it felt so good.

Sehun pulled all the way up before he sank in once more, carefully not to go too far to the point of gagging, though. He drew his tongue along the protruding veins of the cock, his lips dripping saliva.

Panting violently, Kai sat up and pulled Sehun up for a sloppy, hungry kiss. He did not feel like letting go. He could kiss Sehun like this for hours on end. But he did not want to exhaust the boy from just this.

Laying Sehun back down, he climbed out of the bed momentarily to remove his boots and trousers. Then returning to the bed, he planted his hands into the mattress at the sides of Sehun’s head.

“Sehun,” he let out, staring into the boy’s wide eyes. “I want… more.”

Sehun did not reply immediately. But the anger in his eyes slowly faded as he draped his arms over Kai’s shoulders. “Me too.”

Kai placed a soft kiss on Sehun’s lips before he slithered down, leaving a blazing trail of kisses on Sehun’s chest and belly.

Getting rid of Sehun’s boots and pants, Kai then stood on his knees between the other boy’s legs, his hands stroking the sides of Sehun’s thighs.

Along with a rich profusion of embarrassment, Sehun stared at Kai with some curiosity. What was to come next?

He gasped lightly when Kai brushed a kiss to the inside of his thigh before he was flipped onto his stomach. “Kai,” he exhaled.

Kai crawled back up to pelt Sehun’s shoulders and nape with some kisses before he glided down once more, kissing along the cleft of Sehun’s back.

As he slid lower, Sehun buried his face into a pillow, which muffled his soft moan. Kai smirked to himself, tonguing Sehun’s tailbone.

“Kai,” Sehun protested, gasping, biting into the pillow.

Kai splayed a hand on a side of Sehun’s ass and gripped it lightly as his tongue slid along the cleft. Sehun fell quiet all of a sudden. Kai supposed it would take him some time to find the pleasure in a sensation so new and unfamiliar.

Gripping Sehun’s hips, Kai pulled him up to his knees before tonguing the tight rim of muscles, smearing it with his spit. A moan broke from Sehun’s lips then.

“Oh… God,” Sehun hissed, moaning some more into the pillow, his hands fisted tightly around the sheets. Kai pulled back to spit onto the ass cleft before he buried his face in it again, teasing the opening with his tongue. Beads of sweat began to take form on Sehun’s back as he gasped hard like he was fighting for breath.

He looked like he was already close by the time Kai withdrew. He turned Sehun again to lie on his back before he leaned forward to kiss him.

“I need you to relax,” Kai said, straightening back up, even though he knew that it rarely relaxed anyone. Sehun did, however, listened. Mostly because he got distracted by Kai who reached for the nightstands, looking for something to use as a lubricant.

When he did not find any, Sehun said, “The sideboard.”

Kai blinked at him.

Sehun blushed. “It’s rose oil,” he said. “F-For my skin.”

Smiling, Kai kissed Sehun on the lips one more time before he went to retrieve the canister of oil on the sideboard. “You’ve come prepared,” Kai remarked, climbing back into the bed.

Sehun glowered at him, though the mortification was palpable in his expression. “I told you… it’s for my skin.”

Kai dribbled a generous amount of the faintly perfumed oil onto his fingers before sliding them along the cleft of Sehun’s ass.

With a gasp, Sehun pushed himself up by the elbows and eagerly leered at Kai’s hand. “Is this okay?” Kai asked.

Sehun nodded shakily, sucking a lip into his mouth. “Slowly,” he said.

Kai placed one hand on Sehun’s belly while the other worked the tight opening. Sehun dropped his head back on the bed and bit hard on his lip as Kai slid a finger in. “Okay? he asked.

It took Sehun a moment to respond. But he nodded eventually. “Okay.”

Kai pulled the finger out before sliding it back in. He let Sehun get used to the feeling for a moment before he added another finger. This evoked a stronger reaction. Sehun groaned and grabbed hold of Kai’s wrist, reaching between his legs.

“Slowly,” he said again.

Sighing, Kai leaned forward to give Sehun a reassuring kiss. “I won’t hurt you,” he promised.

Sehun sucked in a breath and tried to relax again. Kai slowly slid his fingers in and out of Sehun. It would not help much, but he did not want to catch Sehun off guard.

When his fingers brushed against a bundle of nerves, Sehun tightly clenched his eyes and jaw, his hand gripping Kai’s wrist.

“Did that… feel all right?” asked Kai. Sehun gave a slow nod of his head.

“A little,” he let out.

Kai fingered him for a moment longer, massaging his sweet spot until Sehun finally began to moan in pleasure, though the discomfort remained.

Kai pulled his fingers out and sucked on them to slather on his spit before thrusting them back in.

“You might want to be a little quieter,” Kai said, even though he wanted Sehun to be as loud as he could. Sehun pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, his watery eyes fixed on Kai. “Fuck, I want to be inside you already.”

Sehun voiced no objection when Kai withdrew his fingers and planted his knees firmly into the mattress between Sehun’s legs. Grabbing the oil canister again, Kai oiled his pulsating erection.

Sehun whimpered softly when Kai rubbed the tip of his cock against the throbbing opening. “Stop me if it hurts,” Kai said, holding Sehun’s hips down with one hand as the other was fisted around his cock. He leaned forward and muffled Sehun’s sharp gasp with his mouth as he slowly slid in.

Sehun did not kiss him back immediately. He groaned into Kai’s mouth as he threw a leg around Kai’s waist. “Ah, God,” he huffed, hands clawing at Kai’s back.

“Relax,” Kai told him again.

It took Sehun a little longer to relax this time. But he eventually did, though he continued to hold on Kai like he was holding onto dear life.

They forgot themselves in that moment as Kai began to thrust. Sehun planted a hand in Kai’s hair and dragged him down for a deep, messy kiss. Holding onto one of Sehun’s thighs, Kai picked up the pace of his thrusts when he thought that Sehun was ready for it.

Sehun latched his mouth onto Kai’s shoulder, as though to stop himself from crying too loud. “Kai,” he panted, fingers tangled in Kai’s hair. “Ah… Kai…”

Kai held himself back until Sehun had come. When Sehun finally did, he threw his head back as moans spilled from his lips. Kai kissed his arched neck and straightened up, throwing one of Sehun’s leg over his shoulder.

Sehun, covered in tears, sweat and come, grabbed onto the sheets as Kai thrust harder. “Sehun,” Kai rasped breathlessly as rivulets of sweat trickled down his chest and abdomen, dripping from his eyebrows. “Fuck… I’m…”

He toppled forward and caught Sehun’s lips between his, climaxing inside Sehun, who sank his fingernails into Kai’s back. He moaned Kai’s name a few times in between breaths while Kai filled his neck, cheeks and lips with lazy kisses.

When he pulled out and dropped next to Sehun, he noticed that the boy looked more disappointed than relieved. But he quickly snuggled closer to Kai and buried his face in a crook of Kai’s neck.

As they lay still, catching their breaths, coming down from their high, Kai wondered if Sehun had already forgiven him so easily. Just a few moments ago, he had been exploding with rage. Kai thought that everything was screwed up. But here he was, soft and spent in Kai’s arms, eyes falling heavy.

“Let me get a towel,” said Kai before he stood from the bed. When he returned with a towel he had found in the washroom, Sehun looked at him worriedly, still lying on his side. Kai smiled, wiping the come stains from his own abdomen before he started wiping Sehun’s.

“You can take a bath if it’s uncomfortable,” he said.

Sehun shook his head, taking the towel from Kai’s hand to discard it on the floor. Then curling his hand around the back of Kai’s neck, he drew Kai close. “Lie here with me,” he said.

Kai pulled the eiderdown over their bodies and looked at Sehun. “I should have told you,” he said as they cuddled together under the eiderdown. “I was just… afraid that you would push me away.”

Sehun was silent for a moment, his tired bloodshot eyes boring into Kai’s. “You didn’t trust me,” he said at length.

“I didn’t trust your family,” Kai corrected him. It seemed to make Sehun more upset.

“They are not unreasonable, Kai. And neither am I.” He pressed a hand to Kai’s chest. “I can’t believe… you’re the bloody Crown Prince of Samor.”

“Are you disappointed? Were you expecting a handsome prince in a shining armour?”

“You _are_ a handsome prince,” Sehun muttered. He frowned. “I wish you had told me the truth. I feel like a fool.”

“I never… intended to make a fool out of you, Sehun. I didn’t even know that we would come this far.”

“What is… this far? What are we?” His frown deepened. “You are… engaged to Princess Hina, aren’t you?”

“It doesn’t matter.”

“How can it not matter?” Sehun pulled away from him and sat up then, hanging his head. He winced, as though he had pulled a muscle. Kai sat up with him and gently stroked Sehun’s back.

“I will not marry her,” he said. Sehun looked at him and swallowed. “I cannot marry her.”

Sehun was anticipating something more from Kai. He stared at Kai with bated breath, expecting another promise.

Kai licked his lips. “Did you think that after… what we had just done, I would still want to be with someone else?”

Kai was not sure he wanted to be with anyone else at the moment. He needed Sehun. Whether only for his plot against Egeryn or not, he did not know. He did not want to find out.

“What would your mother say?” Sehun asked.

Kai sighed. “After all these years, I doubt that she would prioritize my happiness at least now. But she has no say in who I should want to spend my life with.”

“Kai…”

Kai took Sehun’s hand and brushed a kiss to its palm. “I love you, Sehun.”

* * *

Lies.

Sehun did not know what those lies were for yet. But he would find out. Once bitten, twice shy. He might have not been loved before, but he could tell that he did not see any love in Kai’s eyes then. Just desperation.

The Crown Prince of Samor was up to something. Sehun wanted to know what it was. And the only way to find out was to play Kai’s game. Two could play this game.

It did not mean his heart was still not full of Kai, though. Because it was. Filled to the brim. Kai’s lies had betrayed him. Even so, he bloomed at every touch of Kai’s hands, he felt like a drowning man taking a breath again when Kai kissed him.

And what they had just done…

Sehun smelled more like Kai than he did of himself. Tomorrow, he might come to regret this. But tonight, he needed Kai. In spite of everything, his carnal desires trumped his rationality. Love truly was complicated.

As Kai pulled him back to lie down, Sehun curled up next to Kai and rested his head on the other boy’s chest. Why would Kai lie to everyone about who he was? Why did it feel like Sehun was the one moving the pieces together for him in this game? He made Sehun break up his engagement to Daewon. He made Sehun come to Agaar, looking for him. And he constantly said that Sehun’s family would be the one to stop them. Something about this suddenly did not feel right to Sehun.

“I love you, too,” he whispered, listening to Kai’s erratic heartbeat.

He needed to figure out what Kai was up to. And as Kai fell asleep, Sehun began to realize that Kai was the son of the man who was poisoned during his stay in Nairth seven years ago.


	16. Chapter 16

He roused to the loud knocks on the door. As he slowly cracked an eye open to squint at the morning sunlight that poured into the room through the windows, he instantly winced at the odd, blunt pain in his lower back. He looked to the arm that was draped over his waist. He shuddered a little when he felt a hot breath graze the nape of his neck. He could feel the heat of Kai’s chest on his back, too.

His heart began to pound a little as he recalled the previous night. He was not sure when they had fallen asleep, but it was sometime after they had had a go at it for a second time. It might have been around midnight when Kai pulled Sehun up for another lengthy spell of kissing before they had taken each other in their mouths simultaneously, driving one another to ecstasy.

It had all been stunning, to say the least. Sehun had no regrets getting to finally have those experiences with someone he truly enjoyed.

That was not to say that he blindly believed Kai anymore. If a man was capable of telling one lie without inhibition, he was capable of many. Sehun was not sure just how much Kai had lied about.

But he knew one thing for certain. He loved Kai. It might not be enough to bring them a long way, but he was willing to keep trying to make this work. Even if he thought that Kai did not love him right away, there was still something there. In the way he kissed Sehun so tenderly when he thought that Sehun had fallen asleep, in the way he encouraged Sehun to be free, in the way he made Sehun feel good about himself. He never put Sehun down under any circumstances. It could not all be a lie, could it? There was something that Kai sincerely felt for Sehun. But it was not love. Not yet.

Sehun felt good around Kai. Even after knowing that Kai was the Prince of Samor. He felt safe in Kai’s arms. Was he perhaps just a fool in love? Not really. He would keep his emotions and the feelings he had for Kai in check. That was only for him to know. But he decided to be more wary on the outside. What purpose could Kai have, lulling Sehun into this false sense of security? Convincing him that he loved Sehun when he really did not? Why was hell-bent on proving to Sehun that his family would not accept him?

Was it because he was the Crown Prince of Samor? Was it because he was the son of King Radaal, who had allegedly been poisoned by someone at palace during his stay in Nairth?

The tragedy was still fresh in Sehun’s mind, like it had only happened yesterday. The evening that the Samorian King had died, the palace had turned upside down. There was chaos. There was anger. Grief. Horrid accusations.

Sehun had not gotten to his father for nearly three weeks. The man was away at multiple hearings and conclaves.

He rose from the bed after slowly removing Kai’s arm from his waist. He found a silk robe and pulled it on before walking over to the door.

He recognized Taeyong’s knocks, but they were slightly harder this time.

Taeyong heaved a sigh when Sehun opened the door. “I thought something had happened to you,” he said, frowning. “Your Highness–”

He stopped himself, blinking at Sehun.

“Can’t I come in?” he asked.

Sehun glanced back over his shoulder and licked his lips. “No, not… right now,” Sehun muttered.

Taeyong’s cheeks reddened. “Oh.” He scratched the back of his head. “Your Father wishes to see you forthwith, Your Highness. He… wants to leave.”

Sehun exhaled heavily. “Tell him I will come to him in a while.”

Taeyong chewed on his lower lip for a moment. “I heard about… what happened. Are you all right?”

Sehun tightened the robe. “I think I will be, Taeyong,” he sighed. “I think it will all be all right.”

“Everyone’s looking for you two,” he said. “The Queen Regent of Samor is asking… for… him.”

“I will tell him.”

Taeyong looked like he wanted to say something more, but he did not. He bowed his head and walked away with a tense expression on his face.

Shutting the door, Sehun paused for a moment to take a few breaths, leaning his forehead against the door. When he turned around, he found Kai looking at him with a hand tucked under his head.

Much to Sehun’s relief, Kai was smiling. Or more like smirking. Smugly. Contently. Like he was a child whose hunger had been finally sated.

“How are you feeling?” he asked, his voice still hoarse from the sleep.

Only then was Sehun reminded of the soreness in his body, especially the nether parts. He grimaced. “Not bad,” he said.

“Not good either?”

“Isn’t that supposed to be a compliment to you?”

Kai’s smile widened. He laughed and beckoned Sehun over.

As Sehun climbed into the bed, Kai pulled him into his arms. “You were amazing last night,” Kai whispered, gazing into Sehun’s eyes.

Sehun lowered them, dragging his finger on Kai’s chest. “What happens now?” he asked.

Kai ran his fingers through Sehun’s hair. “I suppose… we should go face the music now.”

“And what is that music?”

“Our… families.”

“And your betrothed?”

“We weren’t properly engaged, Sehun,” Kai said with a sigh. “It was all just talk. I never promised her anything.”

“Still.”

Kai was silent for a moment. Then at length, he said, “You can’t always feel sorry for everybody. Sometimes, you just have to live your life the way you want to live it. If someone gets hurt because of that, then so be it. We aren’t supposed to satisfy everyone in our path.”

Sehun brought his head up to pin Kai with a frown. He never met someone who could think that way. It sounded so… apathetic and remorseless. Was that who Kai was? It was who he had always been. Sehun just had not noticed it before. He had never thought about it.

“I know why you came here,” Kai said, stroking a side of Sehun’s face. Sehun leaned into the touch. “And if you’d still have me, I want it, too.”

“You want to… marry me?” Sehun asked.

Kai licked his lips and swallowed. “Yes,” he said. Because he knew that Sehun would leave if he said no. And Sehun _would_. He would not settle for anything else with the man he loved.

His father’s consorts might have had the heart to share their man, Sehun most certainly did not. In spite of growing up in a household where love was profusely shared, Sehun was not willing to share his love for Kai. And neither did he want Kai to share whatever affection he had for Sehun with anyone else.

Sehun did not think that he could handle it. It would be too much. It would be like sharing a heart.

“You don’t look so happy,” Kai pointed out, the smile on his lips faltering. He raised a hand to stroke a side of Sehun’s jawline before he tipped the chin up. “What’s the matter?”

Sehun mustered a faint smile. “I can’t believe…”

Kai’s frown deepened.

Sehun bit his lip. “I can’t believe this is happening,” he finished.

“It’s what you wanted, right?”

Sehun nodded his head slowly. It was what he had wanted, but somehow, Kai seemed more real when he was pretending to be someone he was not. Now, Sehun just did not know what to believe.

“Is it… going to fast for you?” asked Kai.

Sehun sighed and sat up. Kai sat up behind him and pulled the robe down Sehun’s shoulder. He then placed a soft kiss on the back of the shoulder before he kissed Sehun’s nape, too.

“A little, yes,” said Sehun.

“Really?” asked Kai. “We can slow down.”

“But our families…” Sehun closed his eyes as Kai continued to pepper his upper back with kisses. “Kai…”

“Hmm?”

“ _Kai_ ,” Sehun let out in a breath.

“Yes,” Kai whispered, his lips brushing Sehun’s ear. “Sehun?” He kissed the spot beneath Sehun’s earlobe. “Do you want me to slow down?”

“No,” Sehun exhaled, barely finding his voice, tilting his head back against Kai’s shoulder. His breathing laboured as Kai kissed along the side of his neck.

Kai slid the robe down Sehun’s arms while his lips busied themselves on Sehun’s neck and shoulders. “Then let’s get married,” Kai breathed. “Right now.”

Sehun chuckled softly, glancing back at the other boy. Kai looked quite aroused, and that did was as real as the daylight. “We can’t do that.”

Kai sighed. “I want you to be mine,” he said. “I want to… own you.”

Sehun blinked. “You cannot own somebody.”

“Yes, you can,” he said, drawing a hand down a side of Sehun’s torso. Sehun gasped when Kai grabbed his waist. “And does that not sound so romantic?”

Sehun thought about it for a moment. “Like… belonging to someone?”

Kai tackled him then and pinned him down on the bed before mounting him. Sehun panted as Kai held his wrists down. “Like belonging to me,” he said.

“Would you belong to me?” Sehun asked as Kai leaned his head down to kiss his neck again. It drove him crazy. The kisses on the neck. It aroused him like nothing else.

“I’ve never belonged to anyone,” Kai said, his hands loosening around Sehun’s wrists. He buried his face in the crook of Sehun’s neck and lay there, unmoving.

“Me neither,” said Sehun.

“No,” Kai muttered. His weight somehow felt comforting on top of Sehun. “No, you have. You had your family.”

Sehun fell silent for a length. “Kai,” he murmured a moment later. Kai did not move. His nose was nuzzling Sehun’s neck. “You have your family, too.”

“No.” He unclenched his hand around Sehun’s wrist and intertwined his fingers with Sehun’s, holding his hand down on the mattress. “No, I don’t. It’s not the same.”

Sehun swallowed and brought his free hand to the back of Kai’s head to stroke his hair. He felt Kai relax even more on top of him, as though he were on the verge of falling asleep. Sehun gently carded his fingers through Kai’s hair.

“No one wants me,” Kai drawled drowsily.

Sehun froze. “That cannot be true.”

Right now, he could not tell if Kai were being honest or if it were another one of his lies. In fact, Sehun was not sure just how much of it all had been a lie. He could not bring himself to believe that it was all a lie. He could not believe that Kai would have any ill intention confessing these things to him. He sounded vulnerable.

Kai pulled away all of a sudden and sat up with a bewildered scowl. He ran a hand through his hair, huffing.

“Kai?” Sehun called. “Are you… all right?”

Kai took a moment to answer. “Yeah,” he said eventually.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Kai clenched his teeth then. “No.” He shoved the covers aside and grabbed his pants from the floor before rising to his feet.

Sehun covered himself with the robe and leaned his back against the headboard. “I remember him.”

Kai halted in his tracks and turned to face him. He raised a brow. “Who… are you talking about?”

Sehun lowered his gaze. “Your father.” He paused. “I was young, but I remember the day he came to the palace. I remember meeting him.”

Kai turned his back to Sehun again then, his hands fisted at his sides.

He did not know if Kai had heard the rumours. Perhaps he had not. Sehun was not sure if it would be a good idea to mention them now.

They were silent for a moment too long. Sehun almost wished that he had not said anything. But it was too late for that now.

“Kai,” he said as Kai started to walk toward the washroom.

Stopping, Kai said, “I do not want to hear it, Sehun.”

Sehun pursed his lips. He could respect that. He could not possibly imagine the agony that Kai would have gone through. He did not know what he would have done if he had lost his father at such a young age.

 _What_ would he have done?

His eyebrows furrowed as Kai disappeared into the washroom. Glancing to the window, he wondered what if Kai had heard the rumours. What if… believed them?

Could anyone fall for someone who was related to the man who had allegedly murdered their father?

Even though it was not a very credible rumour, many still believed them. And had Sehun been in Kai’s shoes, he was not entirely sure that he would not have believed it.

Whether he would believe the allegations or not, he would not have wanted anything to do with anyone that was related to his father’s murderer.

He hugged his knees close to his chest as his stomach clenched painfully. His head was muddled. He did not know what was going on, or even if anything was going on. What if he were just overthinking it all?

When Kai returned from the washroom with water rivulets dripping from his hair and skidding down his body, Sehun nearly asked him the questions that were chewing on his brain.

But then Kai said, “I’m sorry I snapped.”

Towelling his hair dry, Kai ambled over to a side of the bed. He then plumped unceremoniously on the bed and reached out to take hold of Sehun’s hand.

“It’s just that… I don’t want to talk about him,” said Kai. “It’s not easy for me.”

“I understand,” replied Sehun. “I’m sorry I brought it up.”

Part of him wanted to get rid of all his doubts and just believe that Kai was sincere. He could forgive Kai for lying to him about who he was and just trust him again. But the rational part of him beseeched him to be cautious.

* * *

When they finally walked into the throne room where everyone was gathered, all voices died instantly. Sehun felt his heart drum fiercely against his chest as he looked to his father, who was pinning him with a vicious lour.

His knees nearly buckled when Kai’s hand curled around his. Kai’s cold gaze was on his mother.

“What does this mean?” the Agaarian King rasped, his eyes darting to Sehun and Kai’s clasped hands.

Sehun was grateful that Princess Hina was not present. He would not have been able to meet her eyes. Even though Kai had not been serious about the engagement, Princess Hina had seemed overjoyed by it whenever Sehun had talked to her about it.

Not that the situation was any better now. He could not meet anyone’s eyes in the room He was so nervous and there was a sharp, knifing pain in his stomach.

“Kai,” Kai’s mother called, looking as appalled as the others. Except Radosav. He looked almost sympathetic. His calmness was infectious. His husband, on the other hand, was the complete inverse of Radosav. Zaven looked like he was battle-ready.

“Your Majesty,” Kai said, releasing Sehun’s hand before he approached the Agaarian King. “I am grateful for the hospitality you and your family have extended to me all these years. I know that you expect a marriage between your daughter and me. But I cannot marry her.”

“Kai!” his mother yapped.

Kai looked at her with a sidelong glower. “My _parents_ had made you that promise. Not me,” he told the Agaarian King. “I will promise you that this will not affect the alliance between our two countries. But I do not wish to take your daughter as my wife.”

The Agaarian King and Queen exchange a sorrowed glance. Sehun felt his heart sink. He did not feel such guilt when he broke up his own marriage to Daewon. But he felt incredibly culpable and remorseful for breaking up Kai’s engagement.

Possibly everyone in this room, apart from Kai, would detest him.

“My sincerest regrets,” Kai said without sounding very regretful. “But you cannot force my hand.”

“Kai,” his mother hissed, yanking Kai’s arm to turn him around. “What is this? What are you doing?”

Kai kept his cool as he spoke. “Mother,” he said. “I will not marry Hina.”

His mother glanced back at Sehun then. With horror in her expression, she faced Kai again. “Do you mean to tell me that…” she trailed off, as though it was too horrifying and abhorrent for her to even say it out loud. “No. You can’t.”

Kai pulled his arm from her grip. “You will not tell me whom I should choose to be with, Mother.”

“No, I will not,” she spat, her face crumpling with anger now. “But I can tell you that you cannot be with _that_ boy!”

“Are you out of your mind?!” Zaven barked.

Radosav grabbed Zaven’s arm when the man lurched forward. “Darling,” he muttered to his fuming husband.

“He’s gone mad!” Zaven squawked at Radosav. “Barking mad!”

“How could you do this?” his mother growled. Sehun had never seen a woman speak with such resentment before. His insides turned molten, and he felt sick. Everyone was now looking at him like he was something repulsive.

“Mother,” Kai said. “I do not wish to make a scene now.”

“A scene?!” Zaven roared. “Even after knowing everything, you decided to–”

“Stay out of this, Uncle Zaven,” Kai told him. “You have no business meddling in my private life.”

Zaven lunged at him like he was ready to strangle his nephew. Radosav held his husband back.

“I want to marry Sehun,” Kai said firmly, turning to his mother again. “And there is nothing you can say to stop me.”

As flattered as Sehun was, he could not believe that Kai was so bold and uncaring that he would alienate all those who cared about him. Did he really want Sehun that much?

Would Sehun be able to do that for Kai?

His throat closed around a thick lump as he looked to his father and mother.

Kai’s mother fell uncharacteristically quiet as she turned away from her son, hanging her head.

Sehun saw his father move then. “I have had enough of this,” he said through his teeth. He started toward Sehun.

“Father,” Sehun whimpered, eyes stinging a little. He gasped when his father seized his arm and started dragging him toward the door.

“We are leaving,” he ordered. “No more of this.”

“Father,” Sehun hissed, halting him. “I do not want us to leave.”

His father stopped and blinked at him. “You will not marry him,” he said, echoing Kai’s mother’s tone. There was betrayal and anguish in it. “There is nothing more for us to discuss.”

Sehun’s heart dropped to his stomach. “No,” he said, close to tears. “You promised.”

“He lied!”

Sehun shuddered. “I know. But it doesn’t matter now. I still… love him.”

His father’s eyes bulged out.

“I know he lied,” Sehun said desperately. Even though he believed that Kai was not entirely in love with him, and that there might be some ploys at play here, he still loved Kai. He had fallen in love with this boy. And he would rather stay with Kai and sort this out than leave him altogether. “But he hasn’t done anything wrong. He lied because… he was worried that you would not approve.”

“And he is right!” his father yelped. Sehun stared at the man in shock. “I will be dead before I let my son go off with the son of–”

He stopped himself all of a sudden and glanced to Kai’s mother, who was now glowering at him. “The son of whom, Egeryn?” she said, closing the distance between them. “Do you even dare to say his name?”

“You mean the man you broke my heart for, Irene?” Sehun’s father shot back, his teeth gritted and his hands fisted. “The man you so dishonourably eloped with on our wedding day, leaving me on the dais, eagerly awaiting you like a fool?”

Kai’s mother’s face paled, but she looked even angrier now. “I never loved you,” she said.

“But you never told me that,” he replied, his eyes lit with misery now. “Not until this very moment.”

They glared into each other’s eyes for a long moment, both their chests heaving for breath.

“Hell would freeze over,” Sehun’s father said at length. “before I let one of my children make the same mistake as I did and be fooled by your kin.”

“If you are so worried about your son, then perhaps you should have raised him better,” she said. Sehun’s chest felt like it had just been stabbed. Everywhere he went, people cherished him. Right now, it seemed like everyone wanted to bite off his head. He was not used to so much hatred and resentment.

Sehun’s father scoffed derisively then. He almost looked ten years younger in that instant. “Your son lied to us,” he spat. “And it’s rich coming from you. Giving out false hopes must be genetic.”

“You are a bitter man who will always hang on to his past.”

“You are a cruel woman who did not care about whose heart she breaks.”

Kai stepped in between them then. “With all due respect, Your Majesty,” he said, his voice dropping to a threat. “You will speak to my mother with the respect she deserves.”

Sehun’s father’s rage returned tenfold. “I am giving her exactly the respect she deserves! Step out of my way, boy.”

As he took a step forward, Kai calmly shoved him back, hand on the other man’s chest. “Do not expect me to just stand and watch,” he said, reaching back to hold his mother’s arm while his cold eyes pierced into Sehun’s father’s.

Sehun could not watch this either. All of him was shaking.

“Father,” he called pathetically, clinging onto his father’s arm. “Please. Do not do this.”

His father glared into Kai’s eyes for a moment before he pulled away and turned to Sehun. “Sehun,” he said. “We are leaving.”

As he dragged Sehun away, Kai caught his other hand. “Stay,” he said, frowning at Sehun. “Don’t… go.”

“Unhand him,” Sehun’s father growled. “If you wish to keep your hand.”

“You might not want to threaten the future King of Samor, Egeryn,” Kai’s mother said, huffing, as the Captain of her guard stepped forward with his hand on his sword. Promptly, the Captain of Sehun’s father’s guard also advanced toward them.

“This is ridiculous,” Zaven spat somewhere in the back.

Kai was looking at Sehun, his eyebrows drawn together. He looked like he was almost pleading. Sehun could not breathe. He glanced to his father once more who was tugging at his other hand.

“Father,” he said. “I want to marry Kai.”

His father released his hand then. “Sehun,” he let out in disbelief. “And if I forbid you from doing so?”

Sehun scowled at the man then. “Why? Why would you? Do you really hate them so much that you would do such a thing?”

“I do not hate them!” his father snapped. “It is not hate, son.” He briefly looked up at Kai’s mother with a fleeting tenderness before he frowned at Sehun again. “But I cannot… let you… do this.”

“Why?” Sehun demanded, angrily now.

“Because I do not trust them.”

Kai’s mother snorted. “You do not trust _us_?!” she yelled.

“This is enough,” Sehun’s father said. “Let us go.”

Sehun flinched away when his father reached out for his hand. Instead, he moved to Kai’s side, tightening his hand around Kai’s. He might have his doubts, but he did not want his father to tell him what to do anymore.

“I want to be with him,” Sehun said firmly. “With or without your blessing.”

His father’s jaw fell slack then.

“Sehun!” his mother gasped. “You will listen to your father!”

“No, I will not,” Sehun argued. “I am not a small child anymore. You cannot make these decisions for me.”

His mother looked horrified and frankly betrayed. She turned to her husband in shock.

Zaven sighed. “It will be a fun vacation you said,” he muttered, turning to Radosav, who was still holding his husband’s arm.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Brief and vague mentions of past sexual abuse.

“Perhaps we should all take a breather,” the Agaarian King interjected, looking more nervous about the quarrel that had just unfolded than distressed, even though Kai had just called off the engagement to his daughter. “Sit down and talk it out.”

“There is nothing to talk about,” Sehun’s father spat. “There is no way in hell I will allow this to happen.”

Sehun had only seen the man so serious and furious when he was carrying out his kingly tasks. Although Sehun had stood up, he was still shaking like a leaf. He had never argued with his father. Nothing about this felt right to him, and yet, he could not stop himself. He had panicked, and he was afraid.

His father would take him away from here and marry him off to someone that Sehun did not love. Daewon was still a much better suitor than Kai in his father’s eyes.

Sehun had to make his father see reason.

“You will come with me right this instant, Sehun,” his father said sternly. It felt strange hearing him speak with such a tone to Sehun. Terrifying.

Kai’s hand around Sehun’s tightened. “I am asking you for your son’s hand in marriage,” he said, scowling at Egeryn. “Why do you treat me like I’m a criminal? In what way am I not good enough for your son?”

“You had corrupted him, that’s what you have done,” Sehun’s father growled. “You have taken advantage of his naivety.”

“I am not naïve, Father,” Sehun said, as calmly as he could. But he hated that even now, his father only saw him as a naïve child. “I am perfectly capable of making rational decisions on my own. I fell in love on my own account. He did not _corrupt_ me.”

“Then you,” his father said, turning to him. “have let me down.”

Sehun froze, his fingers loosening around Kai’s. He supposed that he had let his family down. He had thought that he would disgrace his father if he fell in love with a commoner. But how ironic was it that his father was more disappointed that his son had fallen for one of the most powerful princes in the realm…

“We leave now,” his father said decidedly. “No more discussion, no more arguments. Will you disown your _family_ for a boy you met some weeks ago?”

Sehun stopped breathing for a moment. Pulling his hand free, he walked over to his father, head hung. He did not spare Kai another glance. He did not think that he could handle it.

“Sehun,” Kai then called.

Sehun clenched his fists and looked up at his father with glistening eyes. “I love him, Father.”

His father glared him down. “And I believe you,” he said through his teeth. “But I’d rather have you spend the rest of your life alone than marry you off to that family.”

Sehun quickly wiped the tear that rolled down his cheek. He let his father grab his arm and haul him out of the room aggressively. He had said some things that he had not meant earlier, and he knew that they would have hurt his father. Possibly enraged him. And Sehun would have to pay for them.

He stopped his father in the hallway and yanked his arm free. “Why?” he asked again, hoping that the man would give him a good enough reason at least now. “Why can’t I be with him? He is not an evil man.”

“Do you know for certain that the rest of his family isn’t?” his father asked. Sehun had never seen him so angry.

Sehun scoffed then. “You never answer my questions straight.”

His father looked at him with disbelief. “Where did I go wrong? I had thought you would… understand.”

“I cannot understand something that does not make sense to me, Father,” spat Sehun. “You had promised that you would help us be together.”

“That was before I knew he’s the son of Radaal.”

“The man you’ve hated all these years? Or is it because he’s the son of the woman you still love? Or does it have something to do with the fact that you think his family would harm me because they believe that you had something to do with Kai’s father’s death? They have no reason to believe in those rumours, Father. And even if they do, Kai would have already hurt me. Trust me, he’s had plenty of chances before.”

His father closed his eyes momentarily and took a deep breath. “Even if he is innocent, his mother–”

“She would understand if you would just talk to her,” said Sehun. “Avoiding her is not going to make her resent you any less.”

“You are a child,” his father said, much to Sehun’s displease. “You are blindly trusting this boy. He has lied to you and yet, you willingly give him your heart.”

“There is nothing _willing_ about falling in love, Father,” Sehun argued, though in a calmer tone. “I hadn’t planned any of this. You of all people should know that.”

His father paused for a length, flinching back.

“You think that I would be hurt by Kai’s family,” Sehun added. “that I would die? I would die either way, Father. I am _not_ a child. I’m not weak. You cannot always be there to look out for me. Give me a chance to live _my_ life _my_ way. Let me make my own choices for once.”

His mother took hold of her husband’s arm, looking up at him forlornly. “What are you thinking, My King?” she asked.

Sehun swallowed, frowning at his father who turned around to walk away. “We leave tonight,” he said. He then looked to the Captain, who was standing nearby, though not out of earshot. “See to it that all preparations are made for the trip.”

“Yes, Your Majesty,” said the Captain before hurrying away.

“Father,” Sehun called, crestfallen.

“I know what is best for you, Sehun. I will not be having those people in our family.”

As the man walked away, Sehun’s mother turned to him with a frown. “Listen to him,” she said quietly. “He has good reasons.”

She then left Sehun in the hallway.

Why was his father so afraid of the consequences of a rumour? It was more than fear. There was obstinance. Was it because he feared for Sehun’s safety, or was it because he still loathed Irene? Either way, Sehun wondered if his father were hiding something.

What if the rumour was not a rumour after all?

Sehun shook his head, slumping back against a wall, panting hard. He could not believe that he had doubted his father’s integrity even for a mere second. His father was innocent. Sehun knew that. For certain.

* * *

It was Zaven who dragged Kai out of the throne chamber by the arm. His mother and Radosav followed. As they entered the courtyard, Zaven growled at the servants and ordered them to leave. They scampered out of the courtyard at once before Zaven could bite their heads off.

It really was a wonder that someone as brutish and hot-headed as Zaven had managed to woo someone as sensible, level-headed, soft-spoken as Radosav. Perhaps it was those charms that made Radosav fall for him in the first place. Opposites attract, right?

“Uncle Zaven,” Kai let out, sighing tiredly.

Releasing his arm, his uncle faced him with a wroth expression. “You could have stuffed it anywhere you want, but you had to go with someone who’s related to your father’s murderer?”

“Zaven,” Radosav called, frowning.

“What are you doing?” his mother asked then, stepping forward. She seemed calm now. Or rather curious. She took hold of Kai’s shoulders and stared into his eyes. “What _are_ you doing?”

Her voice was nearly just a whisper.

Kai did not answer her question. Instead, he pulled away from her. “I have made up my mind. There is nothing that any of you can say to change it.”

With that, he walked away. Zaven lunged at him, but Radosav held him back.

“Let him go,” said Radosav. “You heard him. He’s made up his mind.”

“His mind my ass!” Zaven roared. “What a load of bullcrap!”

“Zaven, please,” Radosav said. “You must calm down. He is not a kid.”

Kai did not get too far away before his mother caught up to him. “Kai–”

“I do not wish to hear it, Mother.”

“You have resented me for so long because you thought that I sat there and did nothing to avenge your father.”

Kai stopped in his tracks and turned around with an arched eyebrow.

“But now… you are dishonouring him by choosing to marry… Egeryn’s child.” Her eyes were sheening with furious tears.

Kai walked back to her. “I am not the one dishonouring him. Egeryn will pay for what he did,” he hissed, clenching his jaw and hands. “And I don’t care who gets hurt in the process.”

His mother blinked and winced back. “You are using his son.”

Kai turned his back to his mother and strode away. “I just set the trap. The rabbits fall into it on their own account.”

His mother said nothing more as she stood in the corridor.

Kai could not tell if she were shocked or impressed.

* * *

Radosav found him in the garden a while later. “Are you in a better mood?” he asked before joining him on the bench.

“I only have one mood,” Kai muttered, staring at the crabapple trees in the garden.

Radosav smiled, and he looked beautiful. “I hope you understand your uncle’s concern.”

“I do,” Kai said.

Radosav bowed his head. “He’s still pacing a hole into our room’s floor, puffing like a maddened bull.”

“Look,” said Kai. “If you’re here to try and talk me out of it, forget about it.”

“Oh, no,” said Radosav. “I know better than to tell someone he should not follow his heart. I mean, look at me.”

Kai scoffed. “Uncle Zaven might be tactless, but he was still born a prince.”

“And do you think that is the reason I married him?”

Kai sighed and shook his head. “Of course not. I don’t think anyone would marry Uncle Zaven if they did not like him for who he is.”

Radosav chuckled softly. “He is an irascible man, but he is never angry at me.”

“Because you make it easy to not be mad at you.”

“No,” he let out. “When you find the… one, something just clicks. It’s like you’ve found the key to a lock.”

Kai smirked.

Radosav rolled his eyes. “I do not mean it that way,” he said. “But that’s what it feels like. You could be yourself with this person, and they’d love you for who you are. They’d treat you with respect, kindness, and affection like no one else. I found your uncle incredibly attractive the first time I saw him, of course. But it took moons before I realized I did love him. Sometimes, it takes time to find out that this person is the key to your lock.”

Kai cocked a brow. “Really? I thought you fell for him instantly.”

“That’s what he tells people to stroke his ego,” Radosav snorted. “I was not sure in the beginning. The people around me told me that we were not a good match. My family… They were impressed that a prince was courting me, but he was still a foreigner with values very different from ours. I wanted to listen to them because I believed that they knew me the best, hence they knew what I would need to be happy. I was afraid. I would have to leave my country, my home, my family, and sail across the sea to be with this man, whom I did not know all that well.”

Kai wondered where this story was going, but he was intrigued. He had never heard Radosav’s side of this story. Zaven’s version of the story was a lot more romanticized, exaggerated and dramatic.

“Then why did you do it?” Kai asked.

Radosav smiled, as though he were smiling at a fond memory. “One day, we were just sitting under a tree, and he asked me if I could visualize my life with him in it.” He paused, licking his lips. “I told him that I could not. I was just being honest. I had no clue what my life would be like with him. I had many reservations. Then I apologized if I had been too forward, if my answers had hurt his feelings. He said that it was okay. He said that… I was the only one he was fine with hurting him. He said that I could cause him in any kind of pain, and he would be completely fine with it. That I could hurt him over and over and over and he would keep coming back. I asked him how he could love someone who would hurt him. Did he find me so physically appealing that he would overlook my ugliness on the inside? Then he told me that if I were in the midst of a thousand people as beautiful as me, his eyes would still search for _me_. I thought then… how could I ever hurt someone like him? Someone who loved me so deeply?”

Kai kept mum.

“When I was a child,” Radosav continued. “I grew up in a rather… quiet household. There was just too much silence. My family didn’t talk to each other much. And it… scarred me somehow. I kept to myself a lot. All my joy, all my sorrow. I always had a difficult time trusting someone enough to open up to them. But with him, I felt like… I could spill everything out and he would only embrace me. I felt like I was looking for a home, and I found it in him.”

Kai was not sure why his heart was pounding all of a sudden. He looked away.

“I don’t talk about this, but there were… countless instances growing up when people tried to take advantage of me.” He took a breath. “Beauty comes with its own price. I never told my family about any of it. I didn’t think they would want to hear it. But I felt like telling… Zaven about it. I started to, but he stopped me. A few days later, he came to me with a note. He told me that he had met a scholar who practiced in the field of the study of the mind. He said that he tried to learn about my trauma. What it was like. What it meant. Ways to cope with it properly. Ways to address it when it’s someone else’s trauma. I was shocked that he had gone to such extents for it. I asked him why he didn’t just ask me. I could have told him. I was ready to tell him. But then he told me that he wanted to understand my pain without… reopening my wounds. He said that I could hurt him in every way I wanted to, but he would never… ever hurt me. He felt like home then. And to this day, he had never hurt me once. My heart feels very safe with him.”

Kai swallowed hard.

Radosav blinked away the tears that were welled up in his eyes. “Kai,” he called. “Life is very short. Especially for those who live it with so much pent-up grievances. Now, I don’t know how you feel. Only you know that. But if you think you can find a home in Sehun, then you should never let him go.”

“You don’t disapprove of my hobnobbing with the villain?” Kai asked.

Radosav exhaled heavily. “It is your life. Your decisions. And if they turn out to be mistakes, it is _your_ responsibility to learn from them.” He rose to his feet. “It would not be fair to discriminate against Prince Sehun for something he was not a part of.”

As Radosav walked away, his words continued to echo in Kai’s ears. He tried not to pay any heed to them.

He wandered back into the palace and found Jaehyun in the guest room, perched on the edge of the bed, gnawing at his lower lip.

“Kai,” he rasped, shooting up to his feet. “Where the hell were you? I’m scared to even step out of the room, buddy.”

Grinding his teeth, Kai walked back and forth.

“Should I go?” asked Jaehyun.

Kai stopped and faced Jaehyun. “I need a favour,” he said. Jaehyun blinked. “I need you to do something for me.”

* * *

“This is probably for the best, Your Highness,” Taeyong asked while packing Sehun’s trunk.

Sehun stood in front of the mirror and stared at his pale reflection vacantly. He felt helpless. Part of him wanted to go back to his father and argue some more, but it would be a futile effort. He had already tried. Another part of him wanted to curl up into a ball and sob.

He did neither as he stood there, heartbroken. He kept wondering if he could go on without Kai. He probably could. Perhaps even with time, he would find someone to fall in love again. Kai would be married to someone else, possibly Princess Hina, if she would still have him. That part pained him even more deeply. Sehun wondered just how possessive he was. Growing up in a family as tight as his, he found it difficult to share someone he loved. Even when the person did not love him back.

It was almost psychotic.

Perhaps he was psychotic.

He tried to think of the future of his relationship with his father, if he had not already ruined it completely. He pitied the man, in spite of everything. His father must have been very disappointed in him. Today, Sehun had disgraced him. It had all been for nothing.

The sun was rapidly setting outside. He was running out of time. He needed to make a decision right now.

There was a knock on the door. Sehun ignored it. When Taeyong got the door, he took a step back with a shocked expression.

“What are you doing here?” he asked.

Sehun turned around to look at Jaehyun, who barged into the room. “Jaehyun?”

“Hey,” Jaehyun said, almost panting. “I can’t believe I agreed to do this. But I need you two to come with me.”

“What?” Taeyong spat. “No. I must ask you to leave, please.”

“Pipe down, shorty,” Jaehyun grumbled at Taeyong before turning to Sehun again. “Sehun, Kai’s waiting for us near the stables.”

Sehun hesitated for a moment.

“It’s now or never, Sehun,” Jaehyun said then.

Sehun drew a deep breath and brushed past Taeyong.

“Your Highness,” Taeyong gasped.

Jaehyun grabbed hold of the boy’s wrist and yanked him along.

“I do not wish to go with you,” Taeyong squealed, unable to break Jaehyun’s grip. “Unhand me, please.”

Jaehyun scoffed.

Sehun did find Kai outside the stables. His face lit up as Sehun ran into his arms. “Kai,” he let out, wrapping his arms around Kai.

“Sehun,” Kai rasped, cupping the back of Sehun’s head. “I thought you had left.”

Sehun pulled back, panting. “We’re about to.”

Taking hold of Sehun’s hands, Kai said, “Don’t go.”

Sehun frowned. “My father–”

“Marry me.”

“Kai.”

“Right now.”

Sehun flinched back, blinking. “What?” He glanced back at Jaehyun and a very shocked Taeyong.

“Let’s elope,” Kai said. “We’ll get married at the temple.”

Sehun needed a moment to process this.

“Jaehyun and Taeyong will be our witnesses,” Kai said. “What do you say?”

Sehun realized that he did not really have a moment.

He could hear his heartbeat in his ears.

His family would never forgive him if he did this. But if he did not, he would lose Kai for good.

Was it too greedy of Sehun to want both? They were both love, weren’t they? Not the same kind of love, but love nonetheless. He could not believe that he was being forced to choose between them.

His family would be his regardless. He never got to choose the family he was born into. But he could choose the one he would be a part of for the remaining part of his life.

“Do you really love me?” Sehun asked Kai, frowning.

Kai hesitated to answer now. “Why… are you asking me that?”

Sehun licked his lips. “I feel like there is still something that you are not telling me.”

Kai sighed. “All right. I don’t know what love is like, Sehun. That’s the truth. I don’t know if this is what love is. But you’re the closest thing I’ve felt to a home.”

Sehun’s body numbed. In that instant, the world slipped away around him and Kai. Was he confessing his true feelings, or were they just honeyed words?

“It’s now or never, Sehun,” Kai said then, pressing their foreheads together. “Do you want me or are you ready to let me go?”

* * *

“Are you still fuming?” Radosav asked as he entered the chamber, bearing a bowl of diced fruits for their son. He pulled away the box of hard candy from Arshen’s hands and placed the bowl in the boy’s hands.

“Papa!” Arshen cried, almost as angrily as his father. Radosav often saw Zaven’s irascibility in their second son. Especially when it came to his sweetmeats and candy.

“You will rot your teeth with all that sugar,” Radosav sighed. “Eat some fruits.”

Arshen pouted, but he did not argue. He picked up a cube of mango and popped it into his mouth. Leaving the boy on the bed, Radosav walked to the balcony where Zaven was leaning over the railing, still scowling.

Touching his shoulder, Radosav said, “Are you all right?”

“No,” Zaven replied crassly.

“They are just young boys, darling,” Radosav sighed. “Young and in love. You were once young.”

“I was never in love until I met you, though.”

“But you were once young and foolish, I’d wager.”

“Foolish!” He faced Radosav. “See. You think that they are being foolish, too.”

Radosav closed the distance between them to fix Zaven’s shirt laces. “I think they should be given a chance.”

“So, you really believe that this is all going to end well?”

“It did for us.”

“They’re not us.”

“But they are stranded in their own way, too.”

“Are you taking the boy’s side because he’s Nairthan?”

“I think he is harmless.”

Zaven’s eyes narrowed. “You are a great reader of characters.”

Radosav smirked. “Yes, I am. And I think he is good-hearted. It is your nephew that I am worried about.”

“What do you mean?”

“He… seems quite Laodicean.”

Zaven frowned. “What does _that_ mean?”

Radosav rolled his eyes, placing his hands on his husband’s chest. He leaned in and kissed Zaven’s bearded chin.

“You missed my lips,” said Zaven.

Smiling, Radosav brushed their lips together and pulled back before Zaven’s arms could tighten around his waist to keep him there. “What I mean is that there is something... wrong with Kai.”

“Yeah. The kid’s one sandwich short of a picnic!”

“He is so… apathetic. I can barely see any… emotions in his eyes.”

Zaven stared at him then. “Or maybe you’re just used to conceiving over-the-top emotions around you all the time?”

Radosav chuckled. “Possibly. But there is something wrong with him. I think you should be kinder to him. We need to be there for him at least now.”

Zaven sighed. “You’re right. I have been too harsh on him, and I’m only seeing him after so many years. I warned my brother that it was a bad idea to elope with the Princess of Daer, but he didn’t listen. And look where it had brought him.”

“You’re worried history might repeat itself?”

“No, I think I’m just mad that of all people, it had to be this boy.”

“Love knows no rules.”

Zaven smirked. “I like it when you speak so romantically.” He caught Radosav’s hips.

“Arshen’s watching.”

“So?”

Radosav shoved his husband away and started for the door. Just as he opened it, a guard came rushing to the door. “My Lord,” he wheezed. “Your presence is sought downstairs.”

Zaven told their son to stay put and finish his fruits before he followed Radosav down to the courtyard where the others were gathered.

The moonless night was so dark that Radosav could barely see what was happening.

“Move,” Zaven hissed as he jostled past the servants.

Radosav was surprised to see Irene and the King of Nairth there. Then he looked to Kai, who was holding Sehun’s hand, both sporting similar silver bands on their fingers.

King Egeryn turned on his heel and stomped away without uttering a word.

“Oh,” Zaven let out, jaw falling slack.

Irene shook her head disappointedly, though she did not look as mad as Egeryn, and left the courtyard, too.


	18. Chapter 18

“Father,” Sehun called, running to the bailey where the carriage was being loaded. “Mother.”

He did not think that they would even want to look at him now. Not after what he had done. He knew that what he had done was wrong, at least in his family’s eyes. But if he hadn’t done it, he would have lost the man he loved. Family was family, one could not lose them in the real sense. They’d be one’s family regardless. But he would have lost Kai.

He knew that he needed to make amends with his family. Perhaps with time, they would come to forgive him. A few weeks ago, he would have done anything to uphold their honour. Tonight, he had been selfish. He had opted for his own happiness than his father’s honour. And he understood that he was in the wrong. He would not try and justify himself for being right. Because he had undoubtedly wronged his family, who had expected nothing but perfection and obedience from him. The same degree of pressure was not placed on his brothers’ shoulders, however. Not even his sisters.

His father did not turn and face him as he ran up to his parents. His mother pinned him with a frown and a pair of bloodshot eyes.

“We had such high hopes for you,” she said. “Why would you do this, Sehun?”

“Mother,” Sehun let out, heart sinking even deeper.

She shook her head. “You have disgraced your father. Again. I knew that coming here was a bad plan. I knew that something wrong would happen.”

“I know that I let you down,” Sehun said, taking a step closer to her. When he reached out to take her hand, she pulled away. “But I just… followed my heart, Mother. I know that you are concerned, but it would not all end badly. I can look after myself.”

“Good,” his father then said, turning his face only halfway to the side, though he did not look at Sehun still. “I really hope that you will be able to look after yourself.”

Sehun’s eyes stung. “So, that’s it?” he asked. “Are you cutting me off?”

“Did you expect anything else?” the man asked, his voice hoarser than ever. “Did you expect me to embrace you with both arms after you have done?”

Sehun glanced down at the dull, silver wedding band on his finger. It was what the temple could acquire on such short notice, and Sehun did not really have much to complain about it. He still wore the anklet Kai had gotten him. He thought that he was flying over the moon when Kai said his vows and slipped the ring onto his finger. It had all been rushed, but Sehun had never been happier. His only grievance was that neither of their families could be there for them.

“I didn’t want you to take me away from him,” Sehun murmured, sniffling. “I know that what I did was wrong, Father. Punish me. Yell at me. But don’t push me away.”

His father was quiet for a moment before he finally turned around and faced Sehun with a sorrowed expression. “You betrayed me, son.”

All blood drained from Sehun’s face.

“You betrayed my trust,” his father added. “I cannot forgive the betrayal of the ones I love the most. Even if it’s my own child. But I do wish that you find the happiness you seek. You made it clear that I would not be able to find it for you.”

He took a step into the carriage.

“Just do not come crying to me when it all breaks apart,” his father said. “Come, Moira. We best be on our way.”

He could see how heartbroken his parents were, although his father was better at masking it than his mother.

She looked like she wanted to give Sehun one last embrace, her eyes welled up with tears. She lifted a hand but dropped it. “Take care, sweetheart,” she said before she followed her husband into the carriage.

Sehun took a step back, tears rolling down his cheeks, as the carriage started toward the gates.

At his side, he felt a hand wrap around his elbow. It was Taeyong, who had accompanied him to the temple. Though he had seemed reluctant and afraid the entire time, he had come through for Sehun in the end. He had agreed to witness the officiating of Sehun and Kai’s marriage.

“You didn’t leave with them?” Sehun asked, his voice thick with sob.

Taeyong shook his head. “I thought you’d need me more, Your Highness.”

Sehun let his head fall onto Taeyong’s shoulder. It had been too long of a day.

He could not believe that he was married.

None of it had happened the way he had wanted it to. He should feel regrettable. But he also knew that there was no other way. He was put on the spot, he was required to make a choice. He supposed that he chose Kai for now. He believed that one day, his family would have the heart to forgive his actions and betrayal. Until then, he would lament their absence.

He pulled away from Taeyong. “I should go look for Kai.”

* * *

Kai barely flinched when his mother’s hand struck his face. In that fit of rage, she had forgotten all pleasantries. She saw nothing but red. Kai let her. In fact, he smiled when she hit him a second time.

“Irene,” Radosav interjected, trying to pull her away. Zaven stood and watched like he wanted to give Kai a piece himself. But he refrained, arms folded tightly at his chest.

What a hypocrite his mother was, Kai thought. He had done the exact same thing she had, and she was mad at him. He scoffed.

“Do you find this funny?!” she yapped at him.

“Yes,” Kai said. “Yes, I do.” He rubbed a side of his jaw and walked over to the trolley that was bearing a decanter of wine. Pouring himself some much needed wine, he turned to his enraged mother once more. “Though I’m not sure what has you so cross. Is it the fact that I married Egeryn’s son or is it the fact that I eloped, like you did when you married Father?”

His mother grimaced. “Leave us,” she told Radosav and Zaven. They were reluctant at first, but they did leave them alone.

“You insolent child,” his mother said a while after they were gone. “It’s the fact that you are fooling and taking advantage of someone innocent to quench your petty thirst for vengeance!”

Kai stopped then. “What?” said Kai, clenching his fists. He stepped forward, holding his chest out. “What are you talking about?” he asked.

“I am ashamed of you,” his mother spat.

Kai placed the winecup down and grabbed his mother’s arm. “ _You_ are ashamed of _me_?” he growled through his teeth. “Egeryn will pay for taking Father away from us. At least I am trying to avenge him instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs! I have a plan to make him pay. And I will see it through.”

He released her arm and shoved past her.

“This road you’re on leads to nowhere, Kai,” she said.

He could not believe what he was hearing. Of course, he did not think that she would be thrilled by his eloping, but he had not expected her to defend the son of a murderer.

“You are paving the path to your own downfall,” she added, eyes narrowed with both anguish and disappointment. “You are wrong if you think your father would be proud of you right now.”

“I don’t care about what he wants,” he said. “I don’t care about what you want either, Mother.”

With that, he stormed out of the room.

Then who was he doing this for? For his own peace? Was that where it would all lead him? Peace?

Yes, peace. He did not really remember what peace felt like, but he hoped that when it was all over, he would have found peace. It would not give him all those years he had grown up without a family back, it would not give him his father back. But he would have gotten the justice he deserved.

He roamed the corridors for a while before he returned to his room. He paced the room furiously for an hour before he plumped on the bed and hurled a vase at the wall. He had not expected his mother to help him, but he had thought that she would understand. He could not believe that she was taking Egeryn’s side. Or at least Sehun’s side, which was not any better. Sehun was Egeryn’s son!

He took a breath and calmed down as he remembered Sehun. He had not seen the boy in some time. He wandered back down instead of sending someone to fetch Sehun.

He did not know what he had expected from marriage in general, but he did not feel any different. He would admit to having felt… strange while he was standing on the altar at the temple earlier, though. He was goosefleshed and high-strung. It had been an odd feeling. His heart was even pounding.

Jaehyun had left. He had congratulated Kai and Sehun on their marriage, though he had not sounded all that sincere about it. It was not anyone’s ideal wedding. But Kai could care less. Weddings and marriages were the last thing he ever worried about. He needed Sehun to stay. That was the only reason he went through with this. And now, he was married. Did it matter? Not really. Not to him.

He found Sehun and Taeyong on the bench in the courtyard. They were not talking or even looking at each other. Sehun had his head on Taeyong’s shoulder. Kai took a heavy breath. As much as he knew that he was not great at offering any form of comfort to someone in distress, he was already walking towards Sehun.

“Taeyong,” Kai called. The servant boy looked up at him with the same conflicted expression he had been sporting the entire evening. Kai jerked his head to a side, beckoning Taeyong to leave. “I got him.”

Sehun straightened up and hung his head while Taeyong rose from the bench. “Yes, Your Grace,” Taeyong muttered before he left them be.

Kai took his seat beside Sehun on the bench. “Are you all right?” he asked, even though he knew that Sehun was not.

The boy shook his head. It was then when Kai realized Sehun was staring at the wedding band on his finger, fidgeting with it tiredly. Kai reached out and took hold of Sehun’s hand. It was trembling, and Sehun flinched like he wanted to pull his hand away, though he did not.

Sehun looked up at him then, his eyes bloodshot and fatigued. “They left,” he muttered before lowering his head again. His voice was shaking so much that Kai barely heard what he said.

“They’ll come around,” he said. He was counting on it at least. Besides, families as thick as Sehun’s could never really be alienated. One way or another, families found their way back to each other.

Sehun sighed. “No one can stay angry forever, right?”

Kai was mum for a moment. He thought that he had been angry for so long that he was capable of staying this bitter forever. Sometimes, Sehun’s guileless optimism made Kai very uncomfortable.

Sehun laced his fingers with Kai’s. His grip was tight all of a sudden. “I do not regret this,” he said at length. What did _‘this’_ mean, Kai wondered. The marriage or Kai in general? “But I thought it would be easier. I broke my family’s heart. My father… He was so devastated.”

Kai had thought that hearing something like that would make him smile. But instead, he was frowning at the tears that were brimming in Sehun’s eyes. He did not feel like smiling in that moment. And he hated himself for it. This was what he had wanted. So, why was he here, trying to console Sehun, who was holding onto his hand like his life depended on it? Like there was no one else who would lend him a hand and a shoulder like Kai would right now.

For the first time ever, Kai felt like he was needed.

He quickly tried to drive the sentiment away.

Sehun smiled then, his eyes still glistening with tears. “They will come to love you, too.” He leaned in and brushed his lips against Kai’s cheek. “They will see that you are a _good_ man. And the right one for me.”

Kai swallowed. “Sehun,” he called. “Why did you do it?”

It was too late to ask him that, Kai supposed. Sehun blinked at him. “Do what?”

“This,” said Kai, lifting Sehun’s left hand. Sehun looked at the wedding band once more. “Even before leaving for the temple, you voiced your doubts. Like you don’t… believe that I am in love with you.”

Sehun lowered his gaze. “But I love you,” he said. Kai’s chest tightened with an odd sensation then. He tried to drive that feeling away, too. “It seemed to me like you… were struggling to express your affection. When you said that you loved me, it came out… in a superficial way. But I trust that you are a good man, Kai. I know that you will take good care of me. I know that we stumbled along the way, but I… I do trust you. I would have rued my life if I hadn’t give us a chance.”

“Sehun,” Kai sighed. “Like I said… I think… this is what love is. I never felt it for anyone else before. I never felt the way I feel for you for anyone else. I’m sorry that I blurted it out like that. But I meant it. I feel… strongly for you. I wouldn’t have asked you to marry me if I did not.”

Sehun smiled shakily and nodded, leaning his head on Kai’s shoulder. “Everything was rushed. My head is a muddle.”

“We’ll get married properly once we’re in Samor.”

Sehun lifted his head and stared at Kai. “Really?”

“Of course,” Kai said. “We’ll hold a ceremony before my coronation. With the court and everyone. A proper wedding ceremony. How does that sound?”

Sehun smiled once more. “Okay.”

* * *

He was such a good liar, Sehun thought. Oh, he was more than just a liar. He was despicable.

A few moments earlier, when he went looking for Kai with his heart in his mouth, he had sauntered into a corridor unknowingly. He heard Kai’s mother’s voice and followed it with a bitter taste in his mouth. He had not meant to overhear their conversation, but he could not help it either.

She probably disliked Sehun more than his father did Kai. Sehun did not know how he would cope with it all, but he would have Kai at his side. Wouldn’t he?

The closer he got to the drawing room, the louder the voices were. Irene sounded furious, which did not come as a surprise. He stopped and hid behind a pillar when he spotted Zaven and Radosav step into the corridor, though they started for the other way.

“It isn’t our business,” he heard Radosav say.

“How is it not? Kai is part of our family.”

“Yes. But it is his private life, too. He should be allowed to make his own decisions.”

Their voices soon faded into the distance. Sehun neared the room once more.

“You insolent child!” He jumped with a start when heard the Samorian Queen shout again. “It’s the fact that you are fooling and taking advantage of someone innocent to quench your petty thirst for vengeance!”

Sehun stopped in his tracks, leaning sideways on the wall nearby. Samorians tended to forget their surroundings when they were angry. They got loud and aggressive without thinking. Irene must have gotten used to the Samorian belligerence by now.

Was she talking to Kai?

“What?” he heard Kai say then. “What are you talking about?”

There was a brief length of silence.

“I am ashamed of you,” Kai’s mother then said.

More silence. Then Kai spoke. “ _You_ are ashamed of _me_?” he asked, as though he were ready to rip someone’s head off. “Egeryn will pay for taking Father away from us. At least I am trying to avenge him instead of sitting around twiddling my thumbs! I have a plan to make him pay. And I will see it through.”

Sehun pulled away from the wall then. He ran to the nearest bush and heaved, throwing up whatever little food and water he had consumed through the day.

He felt sick. His head spun. His knees were ready to buckle. He managed to wobble over to the next corridor, where he dropped to the ground and clutched his arms around his head, curling up into a ball.

He stayed that way for a long moment, trying to breathe. It felt as though he were drowning while being repeatedly cudgelled on the head.

All of his questions were answered sooner than he had anticipated, and frankly had hoped to be answered.

“Your Highness,” Taeyong gasped and ran over when he spotted Sehun on the ground, panting for air. “Are you all right?!”

Sehun stopped and looked up at him then. Something inside him deadened in that moment and the numbness spread over him like an excruciating venom.

It did not take him long to realize that he was not agonizing over the fact that he had been fooled. He was writhing in disgust. How could a human being be so execrable and vile? What had he done… He felt like setting his skin on fire. He wanted to rid himself of every inch that had been tainted by someone so heinous.

Then came an emotion that he was still quite unfamiliar with. His chest heaved, and his eyes burned.

“Oh, lord,” Taeyong let out, holding Sehun in his arms. “You are shaking like a leaf.”

He was right. Sehun could not stop himself from quaking with rage. He had been right to doubt Kai’s intentions. His father had been right all along. Sehun had not counted on being proven correct so soon.

Plan…

Kai had mentioned a plan. To make Sehun’s father pay. What was this plan? It must involve Sehun. It was all finally making sense. Kai needed Sehun for this plan of his. Did this plan involve hurting his father? Oh, God. He had to warn his father. But what if that turned out to be the wrong move? He needed to know what Kai’s ploy was.

He broke into a sob on Taeyong’s arm.

“They will forgive you, Your Highness,” Taeyong told him, stroking his back. “Trust me. They are your family after all.”

Sehun pulled back and wiped his cheeks on his sleeves. “I need to be alone for a moment, Taeyong.”

Taeyong frowned, refusing to leave Sehun’s side this time. “No, you don’t, Your Highness. I’m here to be your friend. It has been a tough day for you.”

Oh, if only Taeyong knew just how much tougher it had gotten for Sehun…

He snivelled and leaned his head back on a pillar. He took a few deep breaths, trying to gather his thoughts. Clenching his eyes for a moment, he reminded himself that he needed to be strong now more than ever. He knew at least now. He could react accordingly. How was he supposed to react to any of this?

Could he go back to his family, whom he had betrayed? And if he left, there was no telling what Kai was still capable of doing. Sehun still had no idea what Kai’s plan was for his father. And if that plan involved Sehun, was it better to be by Kai’s side and neutralize whatever ruse he was plotting?

He was right before. Two could play this game. Did he even want to play this sickening game, though? Could he stoop as low as Kai had? How could he play with Sehun’s heart for his own advantage? How could anybody do that? All these mind games and manipulation. Sehun felt sick again.

After a while, he managed to collect himself, and Taeyong led him to the courtyard for some fresh air. “You should have left with them, Taeyong,” Sehun told him, perching on the bench. “There isn’t much left for you with me.”

“I grew up with you, Your Highness,” said Taeyong. “You are like my family. My brother. I don’t really have anyone if go back, anyway.”

Sehun smiled through his pain. He lightly rested his head on the servant boy’s shoulder.

He had fallen for a simple charming boy. The boy had been a lie. He now married a prince. And though the prince was true, he was horrid. What would Sehun do now?

“Taeyong,” Kai called when he entered the courtyard. Sehun did not look up at him immediately. He was not sure how to face this person. Part of him wanted to throw a fist in Kai’s face and be over with it already.

But another part of him desperately wanted to give Kai a taste of his own medicine. To hurt him, to cut him even more deeply than he was planning on cutting Sehun. He would be blindsided. He would believe that whatever schemes that he was plotting were unfolding as he had planned. But Sehun needed more time to figure out what this plan was. How was Kai planning on hurting his father?

Right now, Sehun decided that his father’s safety was more important than anything. He needed to play along.

He struggled to put a front, though. His insides were coiling in misery. Even though he had thought that Kai was not yet in love with him, he had believed that the feelings were there. That with time, Kai would be his completely. That with time, his love would be returned. The man he had fallen in love with turned out to be a crook.

He despised himself for not having seen it sooner. Perhaps he had. Perhaps he had chosen to deliberately be oblivious to it. Perhaps his own desires to attain Kai had blinded him.

He was not sure whom he despised more in that moment. Kai or himself.

The bed was made. Now, it was time for Sehun to face the music. He would cut Kai where it would hurt him the most.

* * *

“They are making preparations to leave for Samor, Your Highness,” Taeyong said when he returned to the room with Sehun’s tunic.

Pulling away from the window where Sehun had been watching the morning shenanigans, he faced Taeyong with his hands at his back. “All right. And you don’t have to call me Your Highness anymore. I’ve been cut off from my family.”

Taeyong smiled weakly. “But you are now married to the Prince of Samor. And that means Your Highness’ rank is soon to be much higher.”

Sehun sighed. “Just call me by my name from now on, Taeyong.”

The boy bowed his head. “I shall try, Your… Um… Sehun.”

In spite of getting married last night, he and Kai had not spent the night together. When Sehun told Kai that he was tired and that he would like to go to his own bed, Kai had not voiced any objection. In fact, he had looked as eager as Sehun to get away from each other.

When Sehun glanced at his reflection in the mirror, he was appalled by the dark circles that ringed his eyes. He had not gotten any sleep. He had not even gone to bed. He had sat in a corner in the dark until he obtained some clarity. In just a matter of hours, he had lost everyone that he loved.

But he had promised his father that he could look after himself. And he planned on doing just that. He had not married Kai thinking that he would need to rely on Kai to live on. He married him for love. His love had been insulted in the worst way possible. Part of him was still holding out for a hope that this was all just a horrible dream.

“Are we really going to Samor?” Taeyong asked, licking his lips.

Oh, yes. Taeyong was technically a Samorian. “Are you excited?” asked Sehun.

Taeyong did not reply as he handed Sehun a cup of tea.

They were promptly interrupted by the door that opened without a knock. Sehun scowled at first, but his expression eased when he saw Kai’s mother walk into the room. His breathing seized.

Last night, he had heard this woman speak in his defence. It had caught him by surprise, although the night had been full of many other terrible surprises.

The Samorian Queen stopped when her eyes found Sehun. She stood there, still and silent, for a while, mustering Sehun from top to bottom, as though she had never seen him before.

She did not look like she liked what she was seeing.

Just because she disapproved of Kai’s actions and defended Sehun, it did not mean she was particularly fond of Sehun either.

And Sehun was finally beginning to learn his lesson. He had no reason to trust anyone, especially those who were related to Kai. For all that he knew, she could be contriving her own ploy.

He had thought that his life was dull and mundane. Now, look at him. He was caught in a web of lies and schemes. He was curious to discover who would surface from it all with victory in the end.

He looked down at the ring that he was still wearing on his finger. As much as he had wanted to tear it from his finger and lob it through the window, he had not done it. This entire marriage was a joke. It had meant nothing to Kai.

“Is there something that I can do for you, Your Majesty?” Sehun asked when the woman did not break her silence for too long.

Her eyebrows furrowed then. “I think you have done enough,” she said, glancing away.

Did she also believe that Sehun’s father was the one who had poisoned her husband? Even when there were no attestations to the allegations? Grief must have dissolved her and Kai’s sense of rationality. Kai must have been quite young when his father died. Had he been carrying all this bitterness for so long? It had all turned him into a monster. Or was he just a monster to begin with?

“I hope you are prepared for what you’ve walked into,” she said at length.

“I never meant to put you out, Queen Irene,” he said. “And I am sorry that I married your son without your blessing. He is your only child. I know that you must have had many expectations for him.”

She fell quiet again, her gaze piercing Sehun.

Sighing, Sehun took a step forward. “But I truly love him,” he added. “I would do everything in my power to keep him happy.”

These words he would have meant, he could have promised for real if only everything had not turned upside-down overnight.

He watched the queen shake her head almost amusingly. “I’d keep my wits about me, if I were you,” she said. Was she trying to warn Sehun without selling out her son? Sehun was not sure what he would have thought of her warning had he not already known what Kai was up to. “Everyone would have been better off if you had listened to your father.”

Sehun doubted it. Kai would have found another way to hurt his father. And Sehun would not even have discovered Kai’s true colours. He would have spent the rest of his life pining for a man without knowing that he was despicable.

In his heart of hearts, he did not know where the love that he had had for Kai now stood.

“You would not find a family here, Prince Sehun,” Kai’s mother added. “You would not belong with us. Not even with my son.” It did not sound like a threat. Once again, it felt like it was a warning. “You will not find what you sought in your marriage to my son.”

The muscles in Sehun’s face tautened as a sob made its way up in his throat. He bit back on it and swallowed hard. “I’ll take my chances, Your Majesty,” he said calmly. “I’m sorry if my being with your son inconveniences you. I hope that I will be able to alleviate your grievances and concerns with time.”

Her expression softened a little. As she turned on her heel, she stopped to take a second look at Taeyong. “Who are you?” she asked.

Taeyong bowed. “Your Majesty–”

“He is my page,” Sehun said.

The queen stared at Taeyong with her eyebrows knitted for a while before she turned the same look to Sehun. Then huffing, she stormed out of the room.

Taeyong licked his lips and glanced to Sehun. “She sounds intimidating,” he remarked quietly, as though he were afraid that she would hear him.

Sehun raised a foot to the edge of the bed and removed the anklet he had been wearing since the day Kai had gifted it to him. He placed it carefully in his trunk and closed it.

“You hadn’t spent your wedding night together,” Taeyong pointed out while Sehun changed into a new tunic. It had not even been a real wedding, had it? Kai had not meant any of his vows. It was just a joke of a marriage.

“It didn’t feel right,” muttered Sehun.

“Of course,” Taeyong sighed. “You must have been exhausted.”

Someone knocked on the door this time. Taeyong got it. “Good morning.” Sehun heard Radosav’s voice. “Is Prince Sehun awake?”

“Uh…” Taeyong looked back at Sehun.

“Come in, Lord Radosav,” Sehun said. He could not believe that he had fallen for Radosav’s charms, too. Liars and traitors, all of them. Once Sehun figured out what Kai’s plans were, he would make sure that all of them, including Radosav would pay the price for their crimes.

How could Radosav be an abetter in this plot against his own king? Was he so loyal to his husband that he had forgotten his roots? His nation? His king?

“How are you doing, Your Highness?” Radosav inquired as he entered the room. He wore that charming smile of his. Very diplomatic, very civil. A family of incredible actors, Sehun supposed. The House Radaal was full of deceiving frauds.

“I will be fine,” Sehun said curtly, turning his back to the man, although it was the last thing that he should be doing. There was no telling when one of them would stick a knife in his back.

Radosav exhaled heavily. He walked over to Sehun and placed a hand on his shoulder. Sehun pulled away, unable to stop himself from blenching at the touch.

Radosav blinked in shock, taking a step back. “My apologies,” he said quickly, letting his arm fall back to his side. “Is something the matter?”

Sehun sucked in a breath and forced himself to smile. “No, I’m sorry. It has just been a lot to take in lately.”

Radosav nodded his head. “I understand. I left my family for a man I love, too.” His hair was in a long braid today. “The carriages are here. If you want, I can accompany you.”

“It’s fine,” said Sehun. “I’ll come down on my own.”

Radosav nodded again. “If you need anything at all, Prince Sehun,” he said. “let me know. It will be my honour to help you in any way I can.”

God, he was so convincing. It was an art. A skill. How could he pretend so perfectly? Sehun almost believed that he was genuine. Or perhaps he was. Sehun decided that he was not willing to trust anyone who was related to Kai for the time being. Until Radosav was proven innocent, it was better to be chary of him, too.

“This is a very distressful situation for you, Your Highness,” said Radosav. “And I doubt that it would be any different anytime soon. But it will get better. You are part of the family now. And we look after each other in this family.”

“It is not what Kai’s mother told me just a few minutes ago,” said Sehun.

Radosav smiled pitifully. “Give her time. It is a shock for her. For everyone. She had just gotten her son back, and he pushed her away so far by doing something she did not approve of. He had alienated her on purpose. She does not hate you. She does not know you, does she? Give her time to get to know you. And give _your_ family the time to heal. Everything will fall into place with time.”

Sehun frowned. Did Radosav really not know about Kai’s plans or was he really that good of a pretender? His words sounded sincere. And clueless.

“Meanwhile,” said Radosav. “know that you have a friend in me.”

With that, Radosav took his leave, sauntering out of the room as gracefully as he had sauntered in.

Heaving a sigh, Sehun plumped on the bed, planting his head in his hands. It would be great to have a friend where he was going. Someone who could show him the ropes and keep him sane. He supposed he had Taeyong, but Taeyong had never even been to Samor. Sehun had thought that he would be all right so long Kai was at his side, but now that he knew that Kai had hidden agendas, he figured that everything that came out of Kai’s mouth would only play out in his own favour. Sehun was truly about to be stranded.

But he would survive. He needed to. For his father.

Part of him wanted to march up to Kai right now and confront him. But not even the craziest man would believe that to be a good game plan.

As he and Taeyong made their way down, he found Kai at the bottom of the staircase, dressed sharply in an embroidered dark blue shirt, which was surprisingly fully laced.

He was swinging Radosav and Zaven’s kid in his arms while the child giggled ecstatically, flapping his arms like a bird.

“Look at me! I’m flying!” he screamed as Kai continued to spin him around. Sehun stopped on the stairs, blinking. Why did some boys love to do dangerous things like this? As a child, Sehun had never done anything like this. His brothers would leap off tables and climb walls all the time. But Sehun was never half as boisterous as them.

The boy gasped all of a sudden.

“Put me down, Uncle Kai! Put me down,” he squealed.

“What’s wrong?” asked Kai, stopping and lowering the boy to the ground.

The boy’s cheeks were already flushed red, but they grew even redder as he quickly neatened the creases on his little coat. He glanced up at Sehun then and blushed, panting for breath.

Kai followed his gaze and smirked at Sehun. He arched an eyebrow, looking down at his flustered cousin again. “Have you two met?” he asked, dropping to a crouch behind the boy.

The boy nodded. He whispered something into Kai’s ear then. Kai’s eyes widened.

Then smiling again, he said, “Oh, that’s too bad, kiddo. I’m afraid he’s spoken for.”

The boy looked confused.

Kai lifted his left hand and wriggled his fingers. “He is married to me.”

The boy gasped once more, his face turning sad. “Oh.” He hung his head. “Okay.”

“But you can get anyone you want,” Kai told him. “Look at you. So handsome. So clever. I, on the other hand, am not that lucky. He’s the only one who’d have me.”

His little cousin sighed. “All right, Uncle Kai. I won’t _kish_ him.”

“Now, run along. Your fathers must be looking for you.”

The boy glanced back at Sehun one last time before he sprinted away.

Kai rose back to his full height and leaned an elbow against the railing. “Do you plan on coming down the rest of the stairs?” he asked.

Sehun drew in a deep breath and proceeded down the stairs. He stopped before Kai and tried to maintain a straight face.

Kai looked past Sehun’s shoulder and asked, “Will you be coming with us, too?”

Taeyong hesitated to answer. “Y-Yes, Your Majesty,” he said.

Kai pulled away from the railing and held a hand out to Sehun. “Ready for your next adventure, Your Highness?” he asked, smiling smugly.

Although Sehun wanted to slap that smug grin off his face, some parts of him still swooned at the smile. He had wanted love. Instead, he had gotten this.

Holding back the urge to sock Kai in the face, he placed his hand in Kai’s. “How are you feeling?” Kai then asked in a low voice.

“Better,” said Sehun. He did not take his eyes off Kai’s.

“Good.” He drew Sehun toward the bailey. “I have been thinking that once we reach Samor, we should write your family a letter. We should invite them to the coronation.”

Sehun supposed he would also be crowned as the king’s consort at Kai’s coronation. And that meant duties to the country of Samor.

“What makes you think they would accept?”

“Well, your father might be mad at us. But you still have other family members that would love to be there for you.”

That made Sehun wonder. Would any of his stepmothers or siblings be willing to go against his father to be there for him? He doubted it. Every one of them would be resenting him for disgracing the family.

“It will be of no use,” he told Kai as they walked into the bailey. There were three carriages awaiting them. Zaven and Radosav were trying to bribe their son with sweeties so that he would climb into one of the carriages.

“Well, we can try,” said Kai. “We have to start somewhere.”

Sehun stopped and stared at Kai for a moment.

“What?” asked Kai.

Sehun sighed. “What did your uncle’s kid whisper into your ear?” he asked.

“Oh,” Kai chuckled. “He said that he hopes to kiss you one day.”

Sehun blinked, flinching back. “What?”

“He thinks you’re beautiful. Can’t blame him.”

Sehun could not help the blood that filled his cheeks then. “Samorian boys are… too bold,” he muttered.

Kai laughed. “Well, to be fair, he’s half Nairthan.”

He pulled Sehun toward the carriages again. “Kai,” Sehun called, stopping once more. “Your mother came into my room earlier.”

Kai released Sehun’s hand as his brows furrowed into a scowl. “What did she say?”

Sehun cocked his brow now. “Nothing,” he said. “Nothing important. She just said that I… would not belong with you. That I will never be part of your family.”

Kai scoffed. “Family,” he said it like he was spitting venom. He then brought a hand to the small of Sehun’s back, ushering him forward.

After saying their goodbyes and expressing their regrets to the Agaarian royal family, they climbed into the carriages. Kai, Sehun and Taeyong shared one.

“I never got to apologize to Princess Hina,” Sehun sighed as the carriage starting rocking toward the gates.

Kai held his hand. “There is nothing to apologize for.”

Perhaps Kai was right. Sehun did save the princess from marrying a completely contemptible git. He slowly pulled his hand out of Kai’s and glanced out the window.

Was he walking into a lion’s den knowingly? Would he lose himself somewhere along the way in this game? No. This was better. As long as he had Kai in his reach, he could find out what Kai was up to. Perhaps fate was cruel to him for a reason.

* * *

Sehun was glad to be on solid ground again after days at sea. The streets of the Samorian capital was thronging with people and banners. Everywhere Sehun looked, there were lanterns and murals.

“What is going on?” he asked, sticking his head out the carriage window.

“The Maytime Festival is drawing night,” said Kai. “People are making preparations for it.”

“The Maytime Festival?” echoed Sehun confusedly.

“It’s more of a lantern festival,” said Kai. “There will be feasts, dancing, singing all across the country.” The way Kai was smiling now, trying to look past Sehun through the window, was curious.

Of course, Kai was returning to his country after seven years. He looked excited and eager. His hand on Sehun’s knee was gripping. He wanted to look at his people. To look at the straggles of tall buildings. It was not warm as Nairth. But it was not as cold as Agaar. It was humid and sunny.

Samorians were dressed less sophisticatedly than Nairthans. Most of them were in tunics and simple kirtles.

“Are you happy to be back?” Sehun asked Kai.

Kai sat back in his seat and pressed his lips into a thin line. He let out a heavy breath and glanced out the window at his side of the carriage. “A lot has changed in the last seven years,” he muttered. “Look.” He pointed to a building.

Sehun quickly read the sign. Bogal’s Bakery.

“You know what that used to be?” said Kai.

“An olive grove?”

Kai laughed. Sehun hated that they were making jokes like a real couple. “No, silly,” said Kai. “It used to be Harold’s Garments.”

Taeyong was smiling, clinging to the window.

“You’re about to become their king,” Sehun commented. “Does it make you nervous?”

“Well, I will have you at my side, won’t I?” said Kai. Sehun could not even fake a smile then. He would have gladly shared Kai’s burdens. But now, he did not want to serve the country of the man who had fooled him into a false love.

“I am not sure I’d be a very good ruler,” said Sehun.

“You’re a knowledgeable, tactful, diplomatic, kind. I could not think of why you would not make a good consort. If anything, I think you are more prepared to rule than I am.”

Sehun wondered just how fantastic it would if he were actually right. How devastated would Kai be if Sehun did indeed manage to outshine him on the throne? Sehun did not possess the birthright, however. And until he had borne Kai an heir, he was easily replaceable.

“I will try my best,” he told Kai.

“Everything about Samor is bigger than Nairth,” rasped Taeyong, pulling his head back in.

Kai snorted. Taeyong blushed.

“I mean… your houses, shops… roads… horses…” he muttered.

“You’re right,” said Kai. “Does it feel good to be finally be home?”

“Home,” Taeyong murmured and fell silent.

When they finally arrived at the palace, Sehun’s breath hitched. The palace was grander than his home back in Nairth. Bigger, better, covering more grounds, seated on top of a hill that was surrounded by a lush expanse of trees. There were even a moat and a drawbridge. How could one not get lost in here?

Taeyong was gawking as wide as Sehun.

When the carriage jerked to a halt, Kai pushed the door open before the guards could get to it. He stepped outside first before holding a hand out to Sehun.

Taking it, Sehun let himself be pulled out of the carriage. He took a breath of the Samorian air and glanced around at the horses, guards and servants strewn across the bailey. They were all out, eager to meet their all grown up Crown Prince, who had returned to claim the throne that was rightfully his.

“Your Majesty,” he heard someone say. He turned to look at the old man, who was bowing before the queen who climbed out of her carriage along with the Captain. The old man then turned to Taeyong. “Your Highness.”

Taeyong blinked and took a step back.

The old man straightened up and narrowed his eyes. He looked to Sehun next and then to Kai.

“Uri?” said Kai.

The man’s eyes widened. “Your Grace, I beg your pardon,” he rasped, bowing once more, this time to Kai. “I’m getting quite old. These eyes aren’t what they used to be.”

“It’s all right,” said Kai, grinning from ear to ear. “I didn’t think you’d be alive.”

Uri frowned. “I am not _that_ old, Your Highness. I am honoured to meet you again, My Prince.” He looked at Sehun and Taeyong. “Who might these people be?”

“Uri,” the queen called. “Let us go inside first.”

“Yes, Your Majesty.” He hurried back to the queen’s side.

Kai walked ahead, forgetting about Sehun for a moment. He stopped, however, and looked back. “Sorry,” he said. “I got a little carried away.” He took hold of Sehun’s wrist and led him toward the palace entrance. “That is Uri. The royal advisor.”

“I see,” muttered Sehun. His heart was pounding. It was all quite overwhelming. He did not know any of these people. Even though he no longer trusted Kai, he tightened his hand around Kai’s.

“Kai,” his mother called once they were inside. “Come with us. We have much to discuss.”

“Mother,” said Kai. “Can’t it wait? It has been a long journey. I’d like some rest.”

“You can rest once you have greeted your court,” she said sternly. She no longer spoke with the sympathetic tone that she initially had. “Prince Sehun will be taken to his chambers.”

Uri, the royal advisor’s eyes popped out. “P-P-Prince Sehun?” he let out. “Your Highness!” He hurried over to Sehun and bowed before straightening back up with a wince. “My sincerest apologies. I was not informed of your visit. You are… Prince Sehun of Nairth, are you not?”

“Yes, he is,” said Kai, sighing, before he turned to Sehun. “I will come find you in a moment.”

Sehun nodded and reluctantly released Kai’s hand. As one of the guards led him upstairs to a room that was far too huge for one, even one that was royalty, Taeyong quickly followed.

“The servants’ quarters are downstairs,” the guard said when Taeyong tried to enter the room.

“Oh,” muttered Taeyong. “Okay.”

As he hurried after the guard, Sehun glanced at the bed tiredly. He would not mind resting his spine for a while. The ride here from the harbour had worn him out.

A servant entered the room then. It was a young man. “My Lord,” he said, bowing his head. “Would you like to have some refreshments?”

“I’m not a lord,” Sehun muttered. “But I would like to have my belongings brought up first, please.”

The servant bowed his head. “I’ll see to it right away.”

He hurtled away before returning to the room with Sehun’s trunks. He later brought Sehun a cup of tea and some biscuits.

“Thank you…”

“The name’s Lorian,” said the servant.

“You look quite old to be a flunkey,” remarked Sehun, seated on the bed.

The servant rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t really know any other skill.”

“It’s not that hard to learn a new skill.”

“It is when you are not highborn.”

Sehun scoffed. “I know plenty of commoners who could make a monument out of twigs and mud.”

Lorian smirked. He was a tall, lean lad, with a head full of bronzy curls. “You haven’t given me a title to address you by.”

“Sehun is fine.”

The boy blinked. “You are not a nobility?”

“I was born one. I am not sure I am one anymore.” He sighed and leaned back against the headboard.

“You certainly look like one.”

“Looks can be quite deceiving.”

“Oh, you’re married,” the boy noted, looking at Sehun’s wedding band.

“I suppose,” muttered Sehun. “Why? Were you flirting?” he asked dully.

Lorian’s freckled cheeks turned pink. “Lord, no,” he said anxiously, like his life depended on his answer. “Is there anything else that you need?”

“A bath would be nice. Thank you.”

Bowing his head, Lorian hurried away to draw him a bath.

After the bath, Sehun pulled on a pair of trousers and a shirt before he proceeded to the balcony, leaving the shirt open. The sun was rapidly setting in the horizon. The room had a pretty great view of the city. This would have all been a wonderful adventure if his husband had not turned out to be a villain.

The door opened behind him, and Sehun turned around to see Kai. He was surprised. He did not actually expect Kai to come looking for him. He had figured that there would still be a lot for Kai to catch up with.

“Are you done?” he asked, stepping back in.

Kai looked tired all of a sudden. “No,” he said. “I have to head back down in a moment to meet the minister of defence.”

“Oh.”

Kai’s eyes were now wandering. He was leering at Sehun’s body that was uncovered by his unlaced shirt. Sehun inconspicuously started to lace it up.

Clearing his throat, Kai sat down at the foot of the bed. “I’ll try to join you before you fall asleep.”

“It’s all right,” Sehun said. “I reckon you have a lot to do.”

“I do.” He ran a hand through his hair. “I have something to tell you.”

Sehun’s stomach churned. “What is it?”

Kai drew a deep breath. “The court… decided that we should hold a… bedding ceremony. To consummate. The country would only recognize our marriage then since we actually got married under Agaarian law.”

Sehun’s jaw fell. “What?”

“It’s tradition, Sehun.”

For a moment, Sehun could not find his voice. He felt like jumping off the balcony and running away. “A… bedding… ceremony?”

Kai sighed. “Yeah.”

“Does that mean… in front of other people?”

“A room full of people,” he grumbled.

Sehun slumped back against the balcony doors. “You cannot be serious.”

“It’s not that big of a deal,” Kai muttered, shrugging. “They’d leave as soon as… you know…”

Sehun’s face was burning. Actually, all of him was burning. “But it’s still in front of other people.”

“That’s the Samorian way.”

“Well, you’re the king now. Can’t you do something about it?”

“I’m not king yet. And I don’t want the first thing I do as a king to be breaking tradition.”

Sehun dropped on the bed beside Kai then. He did not even want to touch Kai anymore, much less have sex with him in front of a crowd. Swallowing hard, he said, “When is… this ceremony supposed to take place?”

“I don’t know. In a few days. Before the coronation.”

Sehun heaved a heavy breath.

To be continued very soon...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading/commenting/leaving kudos!


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